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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


Class 


Book 


Voluii 


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Mr  10-20  M 


'lUNCIS  HISTORICAL  SURVEY 


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EARLY  ROCK  ISLAND 


LllifiARY 
■^ITY  Of 


ilA-KA   TAI-MK-SHK-KIA-KIAK. 
BLACK   HAWK. 


EARLY  ROCK  ISLAND 


BY 

WILLIAM  A.  MEESE 


PUBLISHED    UNDER   THE    AUSPICES    OF    THE 
ROCK  ISLAND  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


MOLINE,    ILLINOIS 

PRESS   OF   DESAULNIERS    &   CO. 

1905 


'3 


r\ 


Kiitered  According  to  the  Act  of  Congress  in  tlie  Year  1905 

By  WILUAJI    A.  MEESE 
In  the  Office  of  the  Libraiian  of  Congress  at  Washington 


INTRODUCTION 

TN  this  sketch,  Early  Rock  Island,  I  have  aimed  to 
collect  all  data  and  facts  relating  to  this  county  up  to  and 
including  the  year  1832.  I  give  an  account  of  the  Sacs 
and  Foxes,  because  they  were  the  only  redmen  of  whom  we 
have  knowledge  who  maintained  in  this  county  anything 
like  a  permanent  habitation,  and  because  it  was  with  these 
people  that  our  government  went  to  war,  the  cause  of  that 
war  being  possession  of  the  soil  of  what  is  now  Rock  Island 
County.  I  have  tried  to  collect  all  data  regarding  the  early 
settlements  and  the  part  the  early  settlers  took  in  the  Black 
Hawk  war,  also  the  early  history  of  Fort  Armstrong.  I  do 
not  feel  warranted  in  saying  that  I  have  collected  all  that 
is  of  interest  or  that  bears  on  this  county  during  the  period 
I  have  tried  to  cover.  In  this  sketch  I  merely  put  in 
print  and  preserve  for  those  who  desire  it  such  data  as  I 
have  been  able  to  collect,  hoping  that  as  each  new  item  is 
found  it  will  be  added  to  Early  Rock  Island. 

In  making  my  research  I  have  consulted,  among  others, 
Black  Hawk's  autobiography,  John  W.  vSpencer's  Remi- 
niscences, Benjamin  Goble,  Elliott's  Black  Hawk  War 
Records,  Stevens'  Black  Hawk  War,  Thwaite's  Essays  in 
Western  History,  Rock  Island  County  Past  and  Present,  The 
Wisconsin  Historical  Series,  Flagler's  Rock  Lsland  Arsenal, 
and  the  following  Histories  of  Illinois:  Breese,  Mason, 
Davidson  and  Stuve,  Ford  and  Reynolds,  besides  making 
some  original  research  in  the  records  of  the  war  department. 

WII.LIAM  A.  MEESE. 
December  1,   1905. 


192775 


Part  I 

The  First  Inhabitants,  Sacs  and  Foxes,  Indian  Treat- 
ies, Sac  and  Fox  Customs,  Their  Homes,  the  Rock 
River  Village,  Its  Name,  Indian  Population,  First 
Explorers,  Campbell's  Battle,  First  White  Settlers, 
Land  Settlements,  Establishment  of  the   County. 


Early  Rock  Island 

Part  I 


THE  FIRST  INHABITANTS. 

THE  first  people  of  whom  we  have  knowledge,  who 
inhabited  the  country  now  known  as  Rock  Island 
county,  were  the  redmen.  What  tribes  first  occupied  this 
ground  is  not  known,  but  in  the  first  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century  it  was  the  hunting  grounds  of  the  once  powerful 
tribes  known  as  the  Illini,  or  Il/inois,  who  were  a  confedera- 
tion of  several  tribes,  chief  among  whom  were  the  Tamoroas, 
Michigamies,  Kaskaskias,  Cahokias,  Peorias,  and  with  whom 
were  also  classed  the  Mascountins,  sometimes  called  the  Sixth 
tribe.  These  tribes  all  were  of  the  great  Algonquin  nation. 
Marquette  in  his  journal  speaks  of  meeting  the  Illini  in  1673, 
when  he  stopped  at  the  Des  Moines  River,  and  afterwards 
when,  on  his  return,  he  came  by  way  of  the  Illinois  River 
from  its  mouth  to  Lake  Michigan.  The  scene  of  the 
Illinois'  main  residence  was,  however,  in  the  central  and 
southern  parts  of  the  State. 


THE  SACS  AND  FOXES. 

About  1680  northwestern  Illinois  became  the  home  and 
the  hunting  ground  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes.  The  word  "Ou- 
Sakis"  or  "Sau-Kee,"  now  written  Sac,  is  derived  from  the 
compound  word  "A-Sau-we-Kee"  of  the  Chippewa  language, 
signifying  yellow  earth,  and  "  Mus-qua-Kee,"  the  original 
name  of  the  Foxes,  means  red  earth.  These  tribes  originally 
lived  on  the  St.  Lawrence  River  near  Quebec  and  Montreal. 
The  Foxes  were  the  first  to  migrate  west.  They  settled  along 
the  river  that  bears  their  name  and  which  empties  into 
Green  Bay. 


The  Sacs  after  a  long  aud  bloody  war  with  the  Iroquois 
were  driven  from  the  St.  Lawrence  River  westward.  They 
were  next  engaged  in  war  with  the  Wyandottes,  and  again 
were  thej^  compelled  to  hurry  towards  the  setting  sun,  until 
at  length  they  reached  Green  Bay  on  Lake  Michigan,  near 
where  the  Foxes  had  made  their  habitation.  Here  it  seems 
both  tribes  were  frequently  attacked  by  other  tribes,  until 
at  last  they  united,  forming  an  offensive  and  defensive  union, 
each  retaining  its  tribal  name.  Through  intermarriage  and 
long  residence  they  became  substantiallj'  one  people,  an 
alliance  lasting  to  this  day.  Both  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  belong 
to  the  Algonquin  family. 

At  what  time  the.se  two  tribes  came  to  Green  Bay  is  not 
known.  Marquette's  map  of  1673  locates  the  Foxes  on  the 
Fox  River  between  the  present  Green  Bay  and  Lake  Winne- 
bago. Father  Claude  Allouez,  when  he  established  the  mis- 
sion of  St.  Francis  Xavier  in  1669,  found  them  located  near, 
and  in  1672  he  commenced  preaching  the  gospel  to  them. 
Earh"  in  the  eighteenth  century  they  were  driven  from 
Green  Bay  and  the  Fox  Ri\-er  by  the  Menominees,  who  were 
aided  by  the  Ottawas,   Chippewas  and  the  French. 

The  Sacs  and  Foxes  made  depredations  on  the  French  trad- 
ers and  exacted  tribute  from  them,  whereon  the  French 
commandant  of  the  post  at  Green  Bay  took  a  party  of  his 
men  in  covered  boats,  and  while  distracting  the  attention  of 
the  Indians,  opened  fire  on  them  at  the  same  time  that  his 
Menominee  allies  attacked  the  Fox  .  River,  Sac  and  Fox 
village  from  the  rear.  Those  who  survived  the  slaughter 
removed  to  the  Mississippi  River.  On  arriving  there  they 
found  that  country  inhabited  by  the  Sauteaux,  a  branch  of 
the  Chippewa  tribe.  Upon  these  they  commenced  war, 
finally  driving  them  out  of  the  country,  which  they  then  took 
possession  of  and  occupied.     This  was  about  1722. 

These  tribes  next  waged  war  upon  the  Mascoutins  and 
in  a  battle  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa  River  defeated 
and  almost  exterminated  this  tribe.  They  then  formed 
an  alliance  with  the  Pottawattomies,  Menominees  and  Winne- 
bagoes,  and  together  attacked  the  Illinois  and  gradually 
drove  these  people  further  southward.     In  1779,  on  the  26th 


10 


of  May,  these  allied  tribes  made  an  attack  upon  the  Spanish 
post  and  village,  now  St.  Louis,  killing  a  large  number  of 
the  citizens  and  almost  capturing  this  post. 

The  Sacs  and  Foxes  have  warred  with  the  Sioux,  the 
Pawnees,  Osages  and  other  Indians,  and  their  record  shows 
that  they  ranked  among  the  fiercest  and  most  warlike  tribes. 
Drake  said  of  them  ;  ' '  The  Sacs  and  Foxes  are  a  truly 
courageous  people,  shrewd,  politic  and  enterprising,  with 
not  more  of  ferocity  and  treachery  of  character  than  is  com- 
mon among  the  tribes  by  whom  the}'  were  surrounded." 


TREATIES  WITH  THE  SACS  AND  FOXES. 

The  first  recognition  by  our  government  of  the  Sacs  and 
Foxes  was  in  the  treaty  made  at  Ft.  Harmar,  January  9, 
1789,  which  guaranteed:  "The  individuals  of  said  nations 
shall  be  at  liberty  to  hunt  within  the  territory  ceded  to  the 
United  States,  without  hindrance  or  molestation,  .so  long  as 
they  demean  themselves  peaceably  and  offer  no  injury  or 
annoyance  to  any  of  the  subjects  or  citizens  of  the  said 
linited  States." 

In  1804  William  Henry  Harrison,  governor  of  Indiana 
territory,  and  afterwards  President  of  the  United  vStates,  was 
instructed  by  President  Jeffenson  to  institute  negotiations 
with  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  to  purchase  their  lands.  At  this 
time.  Black  Hawk  had  risen  to  the  position  of  war  chief  of  the 
Sac  tribe.  Four  chiefs  or  headmen  of  the  Sacs  and  two  chiefs 
of  the  Foxes  went  to  St.  Louis,  and  November  3,  1804,  made 
a  treaty  with  Governor  Harri.son.  By  this  treaty  the  Indians 
ceded  all  their  lands,  comprising  the  ea.stern  third  of  the 
present  state  of  Missouri  and  the  territory  lying  between  the 
Wisconsin  River  on  the  north,  the  Fox  River  of  Illinois  on 
the  east,  the  Illinois  on  the  southeast,  and  the  Mississippi 
on  the  west,  in  all  fifty  million  acres.  For  this  grant  the 
United  States  guaranteed  to  the  Indians  ' '  friendship  and 
protection,"  paid  them  $2,234.50  in  goods,  and  guaranteed 
them  goods  each  year  thereafter  to  the  amount  of  $1,000, 
$600  of  which  was  to  be  paid  to  the  Sacs  and  $400  to  the 
Foxes.     By  this  treaty  it  was  provided  in  Art.  7: 

11 


As  long  as  the  lands  which  are  now  ceded  to  the  United 
States  remain  their  property,  the  Indians  belonging  to  the 
said  tribes  shall  enjoy  the  privilege  of  living  and  hunting 
upon  them."  This  article  in  the  treaty  caused  much  trouble 
between  the  government  and  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  and  was 
the  main  cause  of  the  Black  Hawk  war.  Black  Hawk 
was  not  present  at  its  making,  and  always  denied  the  right 
of  the  headmen  of  the  Sac  tribe  to  sign  such  a  treaty  for  his 
people. 

In  the  spring  of  1804  a  white  person  (a  man  or  boy)  was 
killed  in  Cuivre  settlement  by  a  Sauk  (Sac)  Indian.  A  party 
of  United  States  troops  was  sent  from  St.  Louis  to  the  Rock 
River  village  to  demand  the  murderer.  The  Sacs  surrendered 
and  delivered  him  to  the  soldiers  and  he  was  conveyed  to  St. 
Louis  and  turned  over  to  the  civil  authorities.  During  the 
latter  part  of  October,  1n04,  Quash-quame,  one  of  the  Sac 
chiefs,  together  with  others  of  his  tribe  and  some  of  the 
Foxes,  went  to  St.  Louis  to  try  and  secure  the  release  of 
the  Sac  murderer  who  was  a  relative  of  Quash-quame.  It  is 
an  Indian  custom  and  usage  that  if  one  Indians  kills  another, 
the  matter  is  generally  compromised  with  the  murdered  man's 
relatives  for  a  property  consideration,  as  Black  Hawk  said  : 
"The  only  means  with  us  for  saving  a  person  who  killed 
another  was  by  paying  for  the  person  killed,  thus  covering 
the  blood  and  satisfying  the  relatives  of  the  murdered  man," 
and  the  Sacs  believed  that  by  the  giving  of  ponies  and  pelt- 
ries to  the  whites  they  could  secure  the  Indian's  release. 

Thomas  Forsyth,  for  many  years  an  Indian  trader  and 
from  1816  until  1830  the  agent  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  in  a 
manuscript  written  in  1832  says  of  this  matter:  "Quash- 
quame,  a  Sauk  chief,  who  was  the  head  man  of  this  party, 
has  repeatedly  said,  Mr.  Pierre  Choteau,  Sen.,  came  several 
times  to  my  camp,  oiTering  that  if  I  would  sell  the  lands  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi  River,  Governor  Harrison 
would  liberate  my  relation  (meaning  the  Sauk  Indian  then  in 
prison  as  above  related),  to  which  I  at  last  agreed,  and  sold 
the  lands  from  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  River  up  the  Missis- 
sippi River  as  high  as  the  mouth  of  Rocky  River  (now  Rock 
River),  and  east  to  the  ridge  that  divides  the  waters  of  the 
Mississippi  and   Illinois  Rivers,   and   I   never  sold  any  more 

12 


lands.'  Quash-quame  also  said  to  Governor  Edwards, 
Governor  Clark  and  Mr.  Auguste  Chouteau,  commissioners 
appointed  to  treat  with  the  Chippewas,  Ottawas  and  Potto- 
wattamies  of  Illinois  River,  in  the  summer  of  1816,  for  lands 
on  the  west  side  of  Illinois  River :  '  You  white  men  may  put 
on  paper  what  you  please,  but  again  I  tell  you,  I  never  sold 
my  lands  higher  up  the  Mississippi  than  the  mouth  of  Rock 
River.'  " 

It  is  claimed  that  the  Indians  were  drunk  most  of  the  time 
they  were  in  St.  Louis,  a  thing  not  unlikely.  Forsyth  said 
the  Indians  always  believed  the  annuities  they  received  were 
presents,  and  when  he  in  1818  informed  them  it  was  part  of 
the  purchase  price  of  their  lands,  "  they  were  astonished,  and 
refused  to  accept  of  the  goods,  denying  that  they  ever  .sold 
the  lands  as  stated  by  me,  their  agent.  The  Black  Hawk  in 
particular,  who  was  present  at  the  time,  made  a  great  noise 
about  this  land,  and  would  never  receive  any  part  of  the 
annuities  from  that  time  forward." 

When  it  became  known  that  certain  chiefs  and  headmen 
had  without  authority  sold  their  lands,  Quash-quame  and  his 
companions  were  degraded  from  their  ranks,  Tiama,  the 
son-in-law  of  Quash-quame,  being  elected  to  his  father-in- 
law's  place. 

In  1815  a  part  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  had  migrated  to  the 
Missouri  River,  and  September  13,  1S15,  these  Indians  .sent 
representatives  to  the  Portage  des  Sioux,  where  each  tribe 
made  a  separate  treaty  with  the  government,  agreeing  to 
ratify  the  treaty  of  November  3,  1804,  and  to  remain  separate 
from,  and  render  no  assistance  to,  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  then 
living  on  Rock  River. 

On  the  13th  day  of  May,  1816,  another  treaty  was  entered 
into  at  St.  Louis.  This  treaty  was  between  the  "Sacs  of 
Rock  River  "  and  the  government.  It  reaffirmed  the  treaty 
of  1804  and  all  other  contracts  heretofore  made  between  the 
parties.  To  this  treaty  is  attached  the  mark  of  Ma-Ka-tai- 
me-She-Kia-Kiak,  or  "Black  Sparrow  Hawk,  "  as  Black 
Hawk  was  also  called.  Yet  Black  Hawk  said  in  1832 : 
"Here,  for  the  first  time,  I  touched  the  goose  quill  to  the 
treaty  not  knowing,  however,  that  by  the  act  I  consented  to 


13 


give  away  my  village.  Had  they  explained  to  me  I  should 
have  opposed  it  and  never  would  have  signed  their  treaty  as 
my  recent  conduct  will  clearly  prove." 

In  the  treaty  of  1804  the  government  had  agreed,  in  order 
to  put  a  stop  to  the  abuses  and  impositions  practiced 
upon  the  Indians  by  private  traders,  to  establish  a  trading 
house  or  factory  where  these  Indians  could  be  supplied  with 
goods  cheaper  and  better  than  from  private  traders.  This 
the  government  concluded  it  was  best  not  to  continue,  and 
a  new  treaty  was  made  by  which  the  United  States  paid  the 
Indians  $1,000  to  be  relieved  from  this  obligation.  Black 
Hawk  signed  this  treaty.  Another  treaty  was  made  August 
4,  1824,  which  reaffirmed  and  recognized  all  former  treaties. 
Each  treaty  left  the  Sacs  and  F'oxes  with  less  land  and  fewer 
rights. 

For  years  there  had  existed  a  bitter  feeling  between  the 
Sioux  and  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  and  August  19,  1825,  William 
Clark  and  Lewis  Cas^,  on  behalf  of  the  government  assembled 
these  tribes,  together  with  the  Chippewas,  Menominees,  Win- 
nebagoes,  lowas,  Ottawas  and  Pottawattomies,  at  Prairie  du 
Chien,  and  entered  into  a  treaty  whose  object  was  to  end  the 
wars  between  these  nations.  In  this  treaty  it  was  agreed 
that  the  United  States  should  run  a  boundary  line  between 
the  Sioux  and  the  Sacs  and  Foxes.  It  .seems  that  this  treaty 
proved  unsatisfactory  to  the  Indians,  for  July  30,  1830, 
another  treaty  was  entered  into  at  Prairie  du  Chien  in  which 
the  Sacs  and  Foxes  ceded  to  the  United  States  a  tract  of  land 
twenty  miles  in  width  lying  south  of  the  line  established  by 
the  treaty  of  August  19,  1S25.  The  Sioux  also  ceded  a  strip 
twenty  miles  wide  along  the  north  line  of  said  boundary. 
This  forty  mile  strip  was  neutral  territory,  open  to  all  for 
hunting  and  fishing,  and  was  along  the  Iowa  River. 


14 


SAC  AND  FOX  CUSTOMS. 

The  Sacs  and  Foxes  had  many  peculiar  customs,  one  being 
that  each  male  child  was  marked  at  birth  with  either  white  or 
black  color,  the  Indian  mother  alternating  the  colors  so  that 
the  nation  was  evenly  divided  between  black  and  white. 
This  distinction  was  kept  alive  during  life,  the  object  being 
to  create  rivalry  and  a  spirit  of  emulation  between  the  mem- 
bers of  the  tribe.  Thus  black  was  the  competitor  of  white  in 
their  games  and  social  customs,  and  each  side  tried  to  outdo 
the  other,  and  in  war  to  take  more  scalps. 

Marriage  among  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  required  only  the  con- 
sent of  the  parties  and  their  parents.  The  husband  could  at 
any  time  divorce  his  wife  or  add  another  if  he  deemed  best, 
and  although  the  marriage  ties  were  not  strong,  the  ties  of 
consanguinity  were  rigidly  preserved.  Hereditary  rights 
were  traced  through  the  female  line.  This  was  accomplished 
by  means  of  the  Totem,  an  institution  or  emblem  which 
sen,^ed  as  a  distinction  for  the  different  clans  or  families. 
The  family  surname  was  represented  by  some  bird  or  animal, 
such  as  Eagle,  Hawk,  Heron,  Deer,  Bear,  etc.  Each  Indian 
was  proud  of  his  Totem — in  fact  it  represented  a  fraternity  or 
secret  society.  As  the  different  members  of  a  clan  were 
connected  by  ties  of  kindred,  they  were  prohibited  from 
intermarriage.  A  Bear  might  not  marry  a  Bear,  but  could 
marry  an  Eagle,  Hawk,  or  member  of  any  other  clan.  This 
Totem  system  furnished  the  means  of  tracing  family  lineage 
through  all  their  years  of  wandering  and  preserved  their 
hereditary  rights. 

The  Sacs  and  Foxes  had  from  the  early  part  of  the  eight- 
eenth century  occupied  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  between 
the  mouth  of  the  Missouri  and  the  Wisconsin,  the  Sacs 
occupying  the  eastern  side  of  the  river,  and  the  Foxes  its 
western  banks. 


15 


THE  HOMES  OK  THE  SACS. 

The  Sac's  house  or  wigwam  was  made  by  setting  posts  in 
the  ground  and  siding  it  with  bark.  On  top  of  the  posts 
small  poles  were  laid  for  rafters  upon  which  strips  of  bark 
were  laid.  These  wigwams  were  about  eighteen  feet  wide 
and  from  twenty  to  sixty  feet  long.  West  of  the  Rock  River 
village  the  Indians  cultivated  nearly  two  thousand  acres, 
raising  corn,  beans,  squashes  and  melons.  The  Sacs  and 
Foxes  planted  their  corn  in  the  same  hill  year  after  year. 
They  would  dig  up  the  hill  each  year  and  plant  the  corn  in 
the  middle,  cultivating  it  with  a  primitve  hoe  and  hoeing 
it  three  or  four  times  during  a  season.  These  corn  hills 
were  quite  large,  many  of  them  being  still  visible  a  few 
years  ago.  The  farming  was  done  principally  by  the  women 
assisted  by  the  old  men  and  children.  From  the  year  1780 
to  about  1820,  the  traders  at  Prairie  du  Chien  came  to  the 
Sac  village  for  all  the  corn  they  used.  After  the  crops  were 
harvested,  the  Sacs  would  prepare  to  leave  for  their  winter 
hunt.  Before  going  they  would  dig  a  round  hole  in  the 
ground  about  eighteen  inches  in  diameter.  Carefully  remov- 
ing the  sod  and  digging  five  or  six  feet  they  would  enlarge  it 
so  that  it  would  hold  many  bushels.  These  holes  they  would 
line  with  bark  and  dry  grass  and  then  fill  up  with  their 
grains  and  vegetables.  When  full  they  would  replace  the  sod 
and  remove  all  traces  of  earth,  often  building  a  fire  over  it  so 
that  no  enemy  could  find  the  place  and  steal  the  supply  they 
had  laid  up  for  the  next  spring  and  summer.  When  this  was 
done  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  would  go  off  into  Iowa  and  Missouri 
where  they  would  hunt.  In -the  winter  their  houses  were 
made  by  sticking  poles  in  the  ground  and  bending  them  over 
so  as  to  form  a  half  circle  about  twelve  feet  in  diameter. 
These  were  covered  with  rugs  woven  of  grass  and  with  hides. 


16 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  \'ILLAGE. 

The  chief  Sac  village  was  located  on  the  north  bank  of 
Rock  River  about  three  miles  from  its  mouth,  and  was  built 
about  1730.  It  was  one  of  the  largest  Indian  towns  on  the 
continent  and  had  a  population  often  as  high  as  three 
thousand.  It  was  the  summer  home  of  the  Sacs.  Here  was 
located  the  tribal  burying  ground,  a  spot  more  revered  by  an 
Indian  than  anything  else  on  earth.  Here  reposed  the  bones 
of  a  century  of  the  Sac  warriors,  their  wives  and  children, 
and  here  each  Sac  came  once  each  year  to  commune  with  his 
friends  and  family  who  had  departed  to  the  ' '  happy  hunt- 
ing grounds."  On  these  occasions  all  vegetation  was 
removed  from  the  mound  and  the  mourner  addressed  words 
of  endearment  to  the  dead,  inquiring  how  they  fared  in  the 
land  of  spirits,  and  placed  food  upon  the  graves.  The  Sacs 
were  particular  in  their  demonstrations  of  grief.  They 
darkened  their  faces  with  charcoal,  fasted  and  abstained  from 
the  use  of  vermilion  and  ornaments  of  dress. 

Black  Hawk  said,  "With  us  it  is  a  custom  to  visit  the 
graves  of  our  friends  and  keep  them  in  repair  for  many  years. 
The  mother  will  go  alone  to  weep  over  the  gra\-e  of  her  child. 
After  he  has  been  successful  in  war,  the  brave,  with  pleasure, 
visits  the  grave  of  his  father,  and  repaints  the  post  that  marks 
where  he  lies.  There  is  no  place  like  that  where  the  bones  of 
our  forefathers  lie  to  go  to  when  in  grief.  Here,  prostrate 
by  the  tombs  of  our  forefathers,  will  the  Great  Spirit  take 
pity  on  us." 


NAME  OF  THE  VILLAGE. 

The  old  Indian  town  is  by  some  called  "Saukenuk." 
How  this  name  originated  is  not  known.  The  first  to  use  it 
was  Armstrong  in  his  "  Sauks  and  the  Black  Hawk  War," 
published  in  1887.  Catlin  refers  to  it  in  1837  as  "  Saug-e- 
nug, ' '  yet  none  of  our  pioneer  settlers  mention  it  except  as 
the  "Sac  Village,"  or  "Black  Hawk's  Village."  Judge 
.Spencer  in  his  "  Reminiscenses,"  in  speaking  of  the  year 
1829,  says:  "We  were  here  but  a  few  days  when  two  Indians 
came,  the  first  we  had  seen.  One  of  them  commenced  talk- 
ing in  a  loud  voice  in  the  Indian  language  of  which  we  could 
not  understand  a  word.  By  pointing  to  the  wigwam, 
saying,  '  Saukie  wigeop,'  then  pointing  to  the  ground  say- 
ing, '  Saukie-Aukie,'  and  repeating  this  many  times  we 
understood  he  claimed  the  land  and  the  wigwam  belonged  to 
the  Indians."  Caleb  At  water,  who  was  the  commissioner 
employed  by  the  United  States  to  negotiate  with  the  Indians 
of  the  upper  Mississippi  for  the  purchase  of  their  mineral 
lands  in  1829,  was  unable  to  learn  the  name  of  the  Sac  town, 
whether  because  it  had  none  or  because  the  Indians  did  not 
care  to  name  it,  is  not  known. 

In  his  Journal  (1805),  Lieutenant  Pike  says:  "I  was 
informed  by  a  Mr.  James  Aird,"  an  English  trader  who  came 
to  this  country  about  1778,  that  this  Sac  village  "was  burnt 
in  the  year  1781-2  by  about  300  Americans,  although  the 
Indians  had  assembled  700  warriors  to  give  them  battle." 
Black  Hawk  makes  no  mention  of  such  event  which,  had  it 
happened,  he  would  have  known.  Yet,  as  Indian  character 
always  prompted  them  to  proclaim  their  victories  and  to 
remain  silent  as  to  their  defeats,  such  an  event  may  have 
happened.  The  village  probably  was  destroyed  by  Don 
Eugenio  Pourre  on  his  return  march  from  St.  Joseph, 
Michigan,  to  St.  Louis.  Pourre  in  the  winter  of  1781  left  St. 
Louis  with  a  small  army  consisting  of  sixty-five  Spanish  and 
French  militiamen  and  about  sixty  Sioux  and  other  Indians, 
and  marched  across  Illinois  to  capture  the  small  British  post 
at  St.  Joseph.  This  was  taken  in  January,  1781.  The  Span- 
ish troops  remained  at  St.  Joseph  but  a  few  days  and  then 
returned    to    St.    Louis.     It    is    not    known    by    what    route 

18 


either  march  was  made,  yet  if  the  burning  did  happen,  it 
undoubtedly  was  this  Spanish  expedition  that  made  the 
attack  in  retaliation  for  the  attack  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  on 
the  Spanish  post  of  vSt.  Louis  in  1779,  and,  as  the  sacking  and 
burning  was  in  the  winter,  no  large  number  of  Indians  would 
have  been  at  the  Rock  River  village,  the  tribe  at  this  time 
being  absent  on  its  winter  hunt. 


POPULATION  OF  THE  SACS 
AND  FOXES. 

In  1805  Lieutenant  Zebulon  Pike  on  behalf  of  the  United 
States  government  made  an  expedition  from  St.  Louis  to  the 
sources  of  the  Mississippi  River.  He  says  that  the  Sacs  had 
three  villages,  one  at  the  head  of  the  Des  Moines  rapids,  the 
second  on  a  prairie  about  two  miles  from  the  Mississippi  at 
Oquawka,  and  the  third  on  Rock  River  about  three  miles 
from  its  mouth.  The  Foxes  or  Reynards  also  had  three 
villages,  one  on  the  Illinois  side  above  the  Rock  Island 
rapids,  one  at  Dubuque,  and  one  near  Prairie  du  Chien. 
Pike  e.stimated  that  the  Sacs  numbered  2,850  souls,  of  whom 
1,400  were  children,  750  women  and  700  warriors.  The 
Foxes  numbered  1,750,  of  whom  400  were  warriors,  850 
children,  500  women.  In  1825  the  Secretary  of  War  esti- 
mated the  entire  number  of  Sacs  and  Foxes  at  4,600,  an 
increase  of  over  one  thousand  in  twenty  years.  In  1831,  at 
the  commencement  of  Indian  hostilities  preceding  the  Black 
Hawk  war,  there  were  twenty  families  of  whom  twelve  were 
Sacs  and  eight  were  Foxes,  and  their  total  number  is  esti- 
mated to  have  been  five  thousand  souls,  this  number 
including  those  living  in  Iowa  and  Missouri. 


19 


BLACK   HAWK  AND  KEOKUK. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  nineteenth  century  and  up  to 
the  Black  Hawk  war,  the  principal  and  central  figure  of  the 
redmen  in  the  Upper  Mississippi  valley  was  the  Sac  chief, 
Black  Hawk,  who  was  born  at  the  Indian  village  on 
Rock  River  in  1767.  Black  Hawk  was  of  middling  size  and 
as  Catlin  says,  "with  a  head  that  would  excite  the  envy  of 
a  phrenologist,  one  of  the  finest  that  heaven  ever  let  fall  on 
the  shoulders  of  an  Indian."  Another  Sac  chief  who  had 
risen  from  the  ranks  was  Keokuk.  His  advancement  was 
due  to  his  raising  a  war  party  to  defend  his  nation  from  an 
expected  attack  of  the  Americans  during  the  War  of  1812, 
but  which  attack  never  occurred.  Although  polygamy  was 
practiced  among  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  Black  Hawk  had  but 
one  wife  while  Keokuk  had  seven.  Keokuk  was  also  born  at 
the  Sac  village  on  Rock  River  in  1783,  and  died  in  April, 
1848,  at  the  Sac  and  Fox  Agency  in  Kansas. 

Early  in  the  nineteenth  century  there  seems  to  have  arisen 
a  difference  between  the  Sacs  and  Foxes.  Lieutenant  Pike, 
writing  in  1805,  says: 

' '  But  recently  there  appears  to  be  a  schism  between  the 
two  nations,  the  latter  (Foxes)  not  approving  of  the  inso- 
lence and  ill  will  which  has  marked  the  conduct  of  the 
former  (Sacs)  towards  the  United  States  on  many  late  occur- 
rences." This  disagreement  continued  to  grow,  and  while 
some  of  the  Foxes  held  with  the  Sacs,  most  of  the  Foxes 
were  inclined  to  be  well  disposed  to  the  Americans,  as  were 
some  of  the  Sacs,  and  these  friendly  Indians  arrayed  them- 
selves under  Keokuk's  standard  while  the  war  party  held  to 
Black  Hawk.  Black  Hawk  and  Keokuk  were  thus  rival 
chiefs.  Keokuk  had  never  done  anything  that  entitled  him 
to  leadership.  The  Indian  standard  of  character  and  honor 
made  it  the  duty  of  an  Indian  to  be  foremost  in  the  ranks  of 
the  war  party.  Keokuk  had  few  victories  to  his  credit,  but 
he  was  diplomatic.  In  1828  he  moved  with  his  following 
across  the  Mississippi  and  built  a  village  on  the  Iowa. 

Black  Hawk,  like  Keokuk,  was  not  an  hereditary  chief, 
but  had  risen  to  the  position  of  chief  of  the  war  party 
through  the  native  vigor  of  his  character  and  his  great  suc- 

20 


cess  in  war.  Black  Hawk  had  never  suffered  defeat.  His 
band,  which  was  much  the  larger,  comprised  the  chivalry  of 
the  Sac  and  Fox  nations.  At  the  beginning  of  the  War 
of  1812  he  offered  the  services  of  his  nation  to  the  Americans, 
which  from  motives  of  humanity  they  declined.  Yet  the 
British  were  not  loth  to  accept  them,  for  directly  after  this 
we  find  that  La  Guthre,  an  agent  of  Great  Britain,  was  at 
the  Rock  River  village  to  enlist  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  on  the 
British  side  and  against  the  Americans,  and  we  find  them 
fighting  us  in  the  War  of  1812.  From  this  fact  and  from 
this  time,  Black  Hawk's  band  was  known  as  the  "British 
Band."  A  study  of  Black  Hawk's  life  discloses  that  he  pos- 
sessed those  qualities  which  in  a  white  man  would  raise  him 
to  power  and  position.  Black  Hawk  was  the  great  Indian 
commoner.  Keokuk  was  noted  as  an  Indian  orator,  Black 
Hawk  as  an  Indian  warrior. 


THE  CAUSE  OF  INDIAN  WARS. 

Every  so  called  Indian  war  in  this  country  originated  in  a 
desire  on  the  part  of  the  white  man  to  possess  the  home  and 
the  hunting  grounds  of  his  red  brother.  Discovery  by  the 
European  nations  was  considered  a  right  to  extinguish  the 
redman's  title.  England's  policy  then  as  now  was  to  claim 
that  all  title  to  land  was  vested  in  the  crown,  that  her  sub- 
jects might  occupy  the  soil,  but  could  not  alienate  it  except 
to  her  own  people.  England  treated  the  Indians  as  she  did 
her  own  subjects.  When  the  United  States  at  the  close  of 
the  Revolutionary  war  succeeded  to  this  country  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi,  the  same  principles  regarding  the 
title  to  the  Indian  lands  were  carried  out;  and  while  in  every 
instance  our  government  has  secured  title  and  extinguished 
Indian  rights,  by  treaty  or  purchase,  we  must  admit  that  the 
consideration  was  the  most  trivial,  and  too  often  acceptance 
on  the  part  of  the  redman  was  influenced  by  the  force  of 
arms. 

Did  the  redman  foresee  his  impending  doom ,  his  forced 
retreat  towards  the  setting  sun,  the  gradual  breaking  up  of  his 
power  and  the  final  extinction  of  his  race  ?"     Careful  study 


of  Indian  history  leads  us  to  believe  that  among  the  Indians, 
as  well  as  among  the  white  men,  there  were  those  who  saw 
the  coming  storm,  "  who  saw  the  threatening  cloud  coming 
from  the  east,  small  at  first,  scarce  a  shadow,  but  gradually 
becoming  more  distinct  and  greater  as  it  traveled  westward, 
and,  when  it  reached  the  summit  of  the  Alleghanies,  it 
assumed  a  darker  hue ;  deep  murmurs,  as  of  thunder,  were 
heard ;  it  was  impelled  westward  by  strong  winds  and  shot 
forth  forked  tongues  of  lightning."  On  the  plains  of  Abra- 
ham, when  French  supremacy  west  of  the  Alleghanies  was 
forever  lost,  and  Pontiac  stood  before  the  British  o65cer  who 
was  to  proceed  westward  to  secure  the  fruits  of  victor\'  and 
said,  "I  stand  in  thy  path,"'  he  realized  the  impending 
conflict,  and  his  note  of  warning  to  the  chiefs  of  his  nation  to 
"Drive  the  dogs  who  wear  red  clothing  into  the  sea"  was 
his  last  appeal  to  save  his  race.  Fiftj-  \'ears  later  Tecumseh 
fell  a  martyr  to  the  Indian  cause,  and  his  efforts  to  stem  the 
westward  march  of  the  white  man  failed.  For  three  years 
after  that  Tuscaloosa  strove  in  vain  to  save  his  nation,  and  in 
1832  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  on  Rock  Island  soil,  under  the 
leadenship  of  their  great  chief  Black  Hawk,  made  the  last 
determined  Indian  defense  of  their  homes  and  the  resting 
place  of  their  forefathers. 


SACS  AND  FOXES  OF  TO-DAY. 

After  their  removal  to  Iowa,  they  by  treaties  in  1835  and 
1842  ceded  all  their  lands  up  to  the  Missouri  River,  and  in 
June,  1885,  these  people  were  distributed  as  follows:  On 
Sac  and  Fox  Reservation  in  Iowa  (Tama  county),  about 
380 ;  on  Pottawattomie  and  Great  Nemaha  Agency  Reserva- 
tion, near  the  northeast  corner  of  Kansas,  the  Sacs  and  Foxes 
of  Missouri  about  187;  on  Sac  and  Fox  Reservation  in  Indian 
Territory,  457,  and  Mohoko's  band,  wandering  in  the  west, 
about  350  —  a  total  of  1,374.  Almost  all  but  the  last  named 
band  are  farmers  and  herders.  The  agent  at  Sac  and  Fox 
Agency,  Iowa,  writing  in  1884,  said:  "For  honesty  and 
truthfulness  our  Indians  stand  above  the  average  white  man 
with  the  merchants  with  whom  they  deal."     Yet  in  spite  of 

22 


all  attempts  to  civilize  them,  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  still  live  in 
the  rude  huts  of  their  ancestors,  cooking  their  food  from  a 
fire  made  on  the  ground,  the  smoke  escaping  from  an  open 
roof ;  sleeping  on  bunks  of  boards  arranged  on  the  sides  of 
their  huts,  wearing  blankets,  painting  their  faces,  shaving 
and  decorating  their  heads,  as  did  their  ancestors  who  lived 
at  the  old  Rock  River  village.  They  lack  thrift,  industry 
and  a  spirit  of  progress.  They  still  oflfer  prayers  and  hold 
feasts  before  planting  their  crops,  and  another  series  of 
prayers  and  thanksgiving  when  their  crops  are  gathered. 
Notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  Christian  missionaries,  holy 
or  consecrated  tobacco  is  still  burned  on  certain  occasions  as 
incense,  and  as  of  yore  they  still  have  "  Me-sham,"  a  some- 
thing that  profane  eyes  have  never  been  allowed  to  see.  The 
modern  Sacs  and  Foxes,  while  quiet  and  peaceful,  are  averse 
to  work  and  seem  at  their  best  visiting  the  neighboring 
towns,  lounging  about  smoking,  chatting  and  playing  the 
white  man's  game  —  cards. 


FIRST  WHITE  EXPLORERS. 

Undoubtedly  the  first  white  men  to  cast  their  eyes  upon 
Rock  Island  soil  were  Louis  Joliet  and  Father  Jacques  Mar- 
quette, when  they  and  their  five  French  canoemen,  in  June 
1673,  floated  from  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin  River  down 
the  broad  Mississippi.  We  do  not  know  that  they  landed  at 
any  spot  in  the  boundary  of  what  is  now  Rock  Island  County, 
but  as  they  came  over  the  Rock  Island  rapids,  gliding  down 
the  swift  flowing  water,  they  could  not  fail  to  notice  the 
island  of  Rock  Island  with  its  rocky  shores  and  beautiful 
groves,  for  their  canoes  must  needs  take  the  channel  on  the 
north  shore  of  the  island.  All  early  voyagers  remarked  upon 
this  locality,  and  it  was  generally  considered  "the  hand- 
somest and  most  delightful  spot  of  the  same  size  on  the 
whole  globe.' ' 

We  have  no  record  of  the  first  white  man  who  stepped  on 
Rock  Island  soil.  We  know  that  as  early  as  1690  Nicholas 
Perrot,  French  commandant  of  the  west,  Iniilt  a  post  opposite 
to  where  Uubuque,   Iowa,  now  is  and  that  in  1695  Pierre  Le 

23 


CAMPBELL'S  BATTLE. 

In  order  to  strengthen  this  garrison,  Howard  in  the  first 
part  of  July  sent  a  second  expedition  consisting  of  133  per- 
sons np  the  Mississippi  in  three  fortified  barges  or  keel 
boats.  This  expedition  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant  (act- 
ing Major)  John  Campbell.  On  the  afternoon  of  July  18  the 
boats  arrived  at  this  locality  and  encamped  for  the  night  on 
the  Illinois  shore,  opposite  the  lower  end  of  Rock  Island. 
During  the  evening  Black  Hawk  and  a  large  number  of  his 
people  came  to  the  American  encampment  and  expressed 
great  friendship  for  the  Americans.  During  the  night  a  run- 
ner came  from  Prairie  du  Chien  to  the  Indian  village  on 
Rock  River,  bringing  the  news  of  the  capture  of  the  Amer- 
ican Fort  Shelby  by  the  British  and  asking  Black  Hawk  to  be 
on  the  lookout  for  a  large  boat  which  had  escaped  and  which 
was  headed  down  the  river.  Early  in  the  morning  Black 
Hawk  and  his  band  started  for  the  American  camp. 

During  the  night  a  strong  wind  came  up  and  Major  Camp- 
bell decided  to  take  advantage  of  it  and  made  an  early  start 
with  his  boats.  When  Black  Hawk  arrived  at  the  Mississippi 
shore  he  found  the  Americans  gone  and  he  immediately 
started  up  the  river  in  pursuit.  Campbell's  fleet  had  pro- 
ceeded about  six  miles  up  the  river  beyond  the  island  of 
Rock  Island,  when  they  encountered  a  severe  storm,  which 
drove  the  boat  commanded  by  Campbell  upon  the  shore  of 
the  island,  since  known  as  Campbell's  Island.  While  waiting 
for  the  storm  to  subside  the  troops  landed  and  began  prepar- 
ing their  breakfast.  Black  Hawk,  who  had  followed  on  the 
Illinois  shore,  saw  the  stranded  boat  and  with  his  warriors  he 
forded  the  Mississippi  from  the  main  shore  to  the  island  and 
commenced  an  attack  upon  Campbell's  soldiers.  The  two 
other  boats  which  had  preceded  the  ill-fated  vessel,  and  which 
were  commanded  by  Lieutenants  Stephen  Rector  and  Jona- 
than Riggs,  hearing  the  report  of  fire  arms,  quickly  returned 
to  the  rescue.  The  engagement  lasted  all  day.  The  rangers 
effected  a  retreat  after  a  heroic  rescue  of  Campbell's  crew, 
but  left  Campbell's  ill-fated  boat  in  the  hands  of  the  Indians, 
who,  after  plundering  it,  set  it  on  fire.     The  total  casualties 


25 


were  sixteen  killed,  of  whom  one  was  a  woman  and  one  a 
child.  The  Legislature  at  its  session  of  1904-5  appropriated 
$5,000  for  a  monument  to  mark  this  spot. 


FIRST  WHITE  SETTLERS. 

The  first  white  settler  in  this  countN-  was  George  Daven- 
port, who  came  to  the  island  of  Rock  Island  in  the  spring  of 
1816  with  Colonel  William  Lawrence  and  the  Eighth  Regi- 
ment of  United  States  regulars  at  the  time  Fort  Armstrong 
was  built.  In  1817  Davenport  built  a  double  log  cabin  on  the 
island  of  Rock  Island  at  the  place  where  the  ' '  Old  Davenport 
House  ' '  now  stands,  one  part  of  which  he  used  as  a  store  in 
which  he  carried  on  the  business  of  an  Indian  trader.  The 
old  ruin  now  standing  on  the  north  shore  of  the  island  was 
built  in  1833  and  was  for  many  years  the  most  pretentious 
residence  above  St.  Louis.  In  1824  Russell  Farnham  came 
from  Warsaw  and  entered  into  partnership  with  Davenport 
under  the  firm  name  of  Davenport  &  Farnham.  In  1826 
Davenport  &  Farnham  built  the  house  on  the  main  land 
afterwards  occupied  by  John  Barrel.  This  was  used  for 
many  years  as  the  seat  of  justice  for  this  county  and  in 
our  county  records  is  referred  to  as  the  " '  House  of  John 
Barrel." 

In  1828  the  country  along  Rock  River  had  not  been  sur- 
vej'ed  and  consequently  was  not  open  to  entry .  Yet  the  fame 
of  the  fertility  of  the  soil  and  the  beauty  of  the  country  had 
attracted  the  pioneer  who  is  always  in  advance  of  the  settler, 
and  who  often  is  termed  the  squatter,  and  these  people  rely- 
ing upon  the  protection  of  Fort  Armstrong  began  to  select 
homes  in  this  valley.  During  the  year  1828  there  were  eight 
settlers  to  arrive — Captain  B.  W.  Clark,  an  old  soldier  named 
Hauey,  Judge  Pence,  who  settled  on  Rock  River;  and  John 
Kinney,  Thomas  Kinney,  George  Harlan,  Conrad  Leek  and 
Archibald  Allen,  the  last  five  settling  where  Rapids  City 
now  is. 

The  year  1829  brought  a  number  of  new-comers — ^Judge 
John  W.  Spencer  who  had  been  here  the  year  before :  Louden 
Case  Sr.,  and  his  three  sons,  Jonah,  Louden  Jr.  and  Charles, 

26 


who  settled  on  what  is  now  known  as  the  Case  place  on  Rock 
River;  Rinah  Wells  and  his  four  sons,  Rinah  Jr.,  Lucius, 
John  and  Samuel,  who  also  settled  on  Rock  River;  Joel  Wells 
Jr.,  who  settled  near  Hampton;  Joel  Wells  Sr.,  Levi  and 
Huntington  Wells,  who  settled  at  Moline  ;  Joseph  Danforth  a 
mile  above  Moline,  Michael  Bartlett  where  Deere  &  Man- 
sur's  factory  now  is,  George  Goble  and  his  son  Benjamin, 
about  two  miles  above  Moline,  William  Brashar  who  settled 
south  of  the  present  city  of  Rock  Island,  Joshua  Vandruff 
and  his  sons,  who  settled  on  Vandrufl's  Island,  Charles  H. 
Case  and  Benjamin  F.  Pike. 


FIRST  AND  ONLY  SLAVES. 

At  this  time  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state  negroes  were 
held  in  bondage,  under  what  was  known  and  recognized  as 
the  indentured  or  registered  servants  act.  This  was  contrary 
to  the  ordinance  of  1787  which  governed  the  admission  of 
Illinois  into  the  union  as  a  state,  but  our  Legislature  enacted 
laws  which  our  courts  upheld,  by  which  slavery   existed  in 

Illinois.     In  May, ,  a  man  named  Stephens  from  St.  Louis 

settled  on  the  Mississippi  where  Walker  Station  now  is, 
two  miles  east  of  Moline,  bringing  with  him  twenty  black 
slaves,  and  built  two  cabins.  There  were  but  few  settlers  in 
this  locality,  but  this  new  departure  was  not  in  accord  with 
their  ideas,  and  in  October  Joseph  Danforth  traveled  to  the 
nearest  justice  of  the  peace,  who  resided  at  Galena,  and 
secured  from  him  a  warrant  for  Stephens'  arrest  for  holding 
slaves.  George  Goble,  the  father  of  Benjamin  Goble,  know- 
ing Danforth 's  intention,  warned  Stephens,  who  immediately 
started  south  with  his  slaves.  Stephens'  two  cabins  were 
afterwards  taken  by  two  brothers  named  Smith,  who  floored 
the  cabins  with  planks  taken  from  the  hull  of  Major  Camp- 
bell's keel  boat,  which  had  not  burned  and  which  had  lain 
embedded  in  the  sand  on  Campbell's  Island  where  it  stranded 
on  that  ill  fated  July  19,  1814.  No  one  after  this  ever  tried 
to  own  slaves  in  this  county,  although  some  of  the  officers 
at  Fort  Armstrong  had  negro  servants  who  were  held  as 
indentured  blacks. 

27 


SETTLEMENT  OF  LANDS. 

In  1828  and  the  early  part  of  1829  George  Davenport  and 
Russell  Farnham  entered  the  lands  upon  which  the  old  fair 
grounds  were  located,  and  which  extended  from  there  about 
one  mile  east.  William  T.  Brashar  entered  the  lands  upon  a 
portion  of  which  is  now  located  Chippianock  cemetery. 
These  and  other  pre-emptions  were  upon  lands  that  had  for 
nearly  a  century  been  the  village  and  the  cornfields  of  the 
Sacs.  These  entries  were  within  the  letter,  but  contrary  to 
the  spirit,  of  the  treaty  of  1804.  These  lands  were  not  open 
to  settlers,  nor  brought  into  the  market  until  the  latter  part 
of  1829,  and  one  authority  says :  "Consequently  all  who  had 
settled  on  them  previous  to  this  were  trespassers,  having 
violated  the  laws  of  congress  and  the  pre-existing  treaties. 
The  most  advanced  settlements  at  that  time  did  not  approach 
nearer  than  fifty  or  sixty  miles  of  Rock  Island,  and  the  lands 
for  even  a  greater  distance  had  not  been  oifered  for  sale,  yet 
the  government  disposed  of  a  few  quarter  sections  at  the 
mouth  of  this  stream,  embracing  the  site  of  the  village  and 
fields  cultivated  by  the  inhabitants.  The  manifest  object  of 
this  advanced  movement  upon  the  Indian  settlements  was  to 
evade  the  provisions  of  the  treaty,  by  having  the  governmental 
title  to  the  lands  pass  into  the  hands  of  the  individuals,  and 
thus  obtain  a  pretext  for  removing  its  owners  west  of  the 
Mississippi." 

ESTABLISHMENT  OF  ROCK  ISLAND  COUNTY. 

By  an  act  of  the  Illinois  Legi.slature  entitled  "An  act  to 
establish  Rock  Island  County,"  approved  and  in  force  Febru- 
ary 9,  1831,  it  was  provided  by  Section  1  thereof  what  the 
boundaries  of  this  county  shall  be.  Section  2  provided  that 
whenever  it  shall  be  made  to  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
presiding  judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Jo  Daviess  county,  to 
which  this  county  was  then  attached,  that  the  said  county  of 
Rock  Island  contains  three  hundred  and  fifty  inhabitants, 
it  shall  be  his  duty  to  grant  an  order  for  the  election  of  three 
commissioners,  one  sheriff  and  one  coroner  to  serve  in  and  for 
said  county  until  they  be  superseded  by  the  persons  elected 

28 


at  the  next  general  election,  which  shall  take  place  after  teh 
special  election  herein  provided  for.  The  act  then  states  that 
after  such  election  the  said  county  of  Rock  Island  shall  be 
considered  as  organized  and  entitled  to  the  same  rights  and 
privileges  as  the  other  cpunties  in  this  state.  Owing  however 
to  the  Black  Hawk  war  no  effort  was  made  to  organize  the 
county  until  1833,  when  on  Monday,  July  5,  in  pursuance  of 
due  notice,  the  legal  voters  of  this  county  to  the  number 
of  sixty-five  met  at  the  "  House  of  John  Barrel,"  and  elected 
county  officers. 


29 


„NivE  iuUNOliJ. 


Part  II 

The  Beginning  of  Trouble,  The  Settlers'  Appeal, 
Reports  of  the  Indian  Agent,  Correspondence 
Between  the  Governor  and  Generals  Gaines  and 
Clark,  The  First  Campaign,  Whisky  a  Main 
Factor,  The  Rock  River  Rangers,  Burning  of  the 
Indian  Village,  The  Treatv. 


Part  II 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  TROUBLE. 

In  the  spring  of  1831,  when  Black  Hawk  and  his  people 
returned  from  their  winter  hunt,  he  found  the  few  white 
settlers  whom  they  had  left  the  fall  before  increased  by  many 
new  comers.  He  found  the  Indian  homes  occupied  by  pale 
faces,  and  among  his  corn  hills  he  found  the  white  man's 
wagon.  But  more  aggravating  yet,  he  found  the  bones  of 
his  ancestors  disturbed  and  laid  bare  upon  tlie  ground  by 
the  white  man's  plow.  He  and  his  people  had  borne  much 
the  past  few  years  but  this  seemed  too  much.  He  protested, 
and  was  told  the  white  man  had  bought  the  land  from  his 
white  father  in  Washington.  He  could  not  understand  this. 
Judge    John    W.    Spencer    in    his    "Reminiscences"     says: 

Black  Hawk  gave  the  settlers  to  understand  that  after  this 
sea.son  they  must  go  south  of  Rock  River,  or  above  Pleasant 
Valley.  *  *  *  This  move  on  the  part  of  the  Indians  made  it 
necessary  for  the  settlers  to  look  about  and  see  what  they 
could  do  for  their  protection,"  and,  he  adds,  "We  had  peti- 
tioned the  Governor  of  the  state  in  the  summer  of  1829 
without  his  taking  any  notice,  but  now  we  concluded  to  try 
it  again.  We  made  a  statement  of  our  grievance,  and  of  the 
order  of  Black  Hawk  for  our  removal,  and  forwarded  it  with 
all  possible  haste  to  the  governor.  This  had  the  desired 
effect." 


33 


THE  ROCK  ISLAND  PfiTITION. 

The  following  is  the  petition  sent  to  the  Governor  by  citi- 
zens of  Rock  Island : 

"April  30,  1831. 

"  His  Excellency,  the  Governor  of  the  State  of  Illinois  : 

"We.  the  undersigned,  being  citizens  of  Rock  River  and 
its  vicinity,  beg  leave  to  state  to  your  honor  the  grievances 
which  we  labor  under  and  pray  your  protection  against  the 
Sac  and  Fox  tribe  of  Indians  who  have  again  taken  posses- 
sion of  our  lands  near  the  mouth  of  Rock  River  and  its 
vicinity.  They  have,  and  now  are.  burning  our  fences, 
destroying  our  crops  of  wheat  now  growing,  by  turning  in  all 
their  horses.  They  also  threaten  our  lives  if  we  attempt  to 
plant  corn,  and  say  they  will  cut  it  up:  that  we  have  stolen 
their  lands  from  them,  and  they  are  determined  to  extermi- 
nate us,  provided  we  don't  leave  the  country.  Your  honor, 
no  doubt,  is  aware  of  the  outrages  that  were  committed  by 
said  Indians  heretofore.  Particularly  last  fall,  they  almost 
destroyed  all  our  crops,  and  made  several  attempts  on  the 
owners'  lives  when  they  attempted  to  prevent  their  depreda- 
tions, and  actualh'  wounded  one  man  by  stabbing  him  in 
several  places.  This  spring  they  act  in  a  much  more  out- 
rageous and  menacing  manner,  so  that  we  consider  ourselves 
compelled  to  beg  protection  of  you,  which  the  agent  and 
garrison  on  Rock  Island  refu.se  to  give,  inasmuch  as  they  saj- 
they  have  no  orders  from  gov^ernment ;  therefore,  should  we 
not  receive  adequate  aid  from  your  honor,  we  shall  be  com- 
pelled to  abandon  our  settlement  and  the  lands  which  we 
have  purchased  of  government.  Therefore,  we  have  no  doubt 
but  your  honor  will  better  anticipate  our  condition  than  it  is 
represented,  and  grant  us  immediate  relief  in  the  manner  that 
to  you  may  seem  most  likely  to  produce  the  desired  effect. 
The  number  of  Indians  now  among  us  is  about  six  or  seven 
hundred.  They  say  there  are  more  coming,  and  that  the 
Pottawattomies  and  some  of  the  W'innebagoes  will  help  them, 
in  case  of  an  irruption  with  the  whites. 


34 


"  The  warriors  now  here  are  the  Black  Hawk's  party,  with 

other  chiefs,  the  names  of  whom  we  are  not  acquainted 
with.  Therefore,  looking  up  to  you  for  protection,  we  beg 
leave  to  remain,  yours,  etc." 

(  Signed  )  John  Wells  Thomas  Lovitt 

B.  F.  Pike  William  Heans 

H.  McNiel  Charles  French 

.Albert  Wells  M.  S.  Hulls 

Griffith  Ausbury  Eli  Wells 

Thomas  Gardiner  Asaph  Wells 

J.  Vandruff  G.  V.  Miller 

S.  Vandruff  Edward  Burner 

John  L.  Bain  Joel  Thompson 

Horace  Cook  Joel  Wells,  Jr. 

David  B.  Hail  J.  W.  Spencer 

John  Barrel  Joseph  Dan  forth 

William  Henry  William    Brazher 

Erastus  Kent  Jonah  H.  Case 

Levi  Wells  Samuel  Wells 

Joel  Wells  Charles  French 

Michael  Bartlet  Benjamin   Goble 

Huntington  Wells  Gentry  McCall 
Thomas  Davis 


THE  INDIAN  AGENT  REPORTS. 

The  settlers  not  hearing  from  the  governor  and  receiving 
no  aid  from  the  officials  at  Fort  Armstrong,  applied  to  the 
Indian  agent,  and  he  wrote  the  following  letter: 

"Rock  Island,  May  15,  1831. 

Respected  Sir  ;  I  have  again  to  mention  to  you  that  the 
Black  Hawk  (a  Sac  chief)  and  his  party  are  now  at  their  old 
village  on  Rock  River.  They  have  commenced  planting  corn 
and  say  they  will  keep  possession.  I  have  been  informed 
that  they  have  pulled  down  a  house  and  some  fences  which 
they  have  burned.  They  have  also  turned  their  horses  in 
wheat  fields  and  say  they  will  destroy  the  wheat  so  that  the 
white  people  shall  not  remain  among  them. 

This  is  what  I  expected  from  their  manner  of  acting  la,st 
fall,  and  which  I  mentioned  to  you  in  my  letter  of  the  8th 
October  last.  I  would  not  be  at  a  loss  were  it  not  for  the 
seventh  article  of  the  treaty  with  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  of  3d 
November,  1804. 

35 


"I  respectfully  ask,  would  it  not  be  better  to  hold  a  treaty 

with  those  Indians  and  get  them  to  remove  peaceably,  than 

to  call  on  the  military  to  force  them  off  ?     None  of  this  band 

has  as  yet  called  on  me  for  information.     A  few  have  been  at 

my  agency  to  have  work  done  at  the  smith's  shops.     I  have 

the  honor  to  be, 

"Your  obedient  servant. 

"  Felix  St.  Vraix,  Indian  Agent. 

"Gen.  William  Clark,  Supt,  Ind.  of  vSt.  Louis." 

WHISKY  THE  CAUSE. 

One  of  the  .settlers  living  on  what  is  now  Vandruff's  Island 
kept  a  -sort  of  tavern  where  whisky  was  sold,  and  here  the 
Indians  came  to  barter  for  fire  water.  Black  Hawk  saw  his 
young  men  and  old  bartering  off  their  peltries  and  game  for 
whisky  and  he  saw  the  ruin  the  white  man's  fire  water 
was  creating  among  his  people.  He  protested  and  begged 
the  white  man  to  stop  selling  the  Indian  whisky,  but  the 
sale  went  on.  One  day  he,  with  some  five  or  six  of  his 
braves,  paddled  in  canoes  from  the  village  to  \"andruff's 
Island  where  was  the  cabin  occupied  by  the  white  man  who 
was  selling  whisky  to  the  Sacs.  Silently  the  old  chief 
marched  up  to  the  cabin  followed  by  his  braves.  They  did 
not  stop  to  knock  but  entered  the  door  and  silently  rolled  the 
several  barrels  and  kegs  of  whisky  outside  the  cabin,  knocked 
in  the  heads  with  their  tomahawks,  and  allowed  the  pale 
face's  fire  water  to  run  on  the  ground.  Then  they  rowed 
back  to  their  village. 

This  last  act  of  the  Indians  greatly  excited  the  whites  and 
Benjamin  F.  Pike,  a  settler,  was  sent  to  Belleville  in  St.  Clair 
County  to  personally  ask  the  governor  for  assistance.  He 
took  with  him  the  following  petition  from  the  settlers : 


36 


THE  SECOND  PETITION. 

"  Farnhamburg,  May  19,  1831. 
"  To  his  Excellency,  the  Governor  of  the  State  of  Illinoi.s : 

"We,  the  undersigned,  citizens  of  Rock  River  and  its 
vicinity,  having  previously  sent  a  petition  to  your  honor, 
praying  your  protection  against  these  Sac  Indians  who  were 
at  that  time  doing  every  kind  of  mischief  as  was  set  forth  and 
represented  to  your  honor ;  but  feeling  ourselves  more 
aggrieved  and  our  situation  more  precarious,  we  have  been 
compelled  to  make  our  distress  known  to  you  b)'  sending  one 
of  our  neighbors  who  is  well  acquainted  with  our  situation. 
If  we  do  not  get  relief  speedily  we  must  leave  our  habitations 
to  these  savages  and  seek  safety  for  our  families  by  taking 
them  down  into  the  lower  counties  and  suffer  our  houses  and 
fences  to  be  destroyed,  as  one  of  the  principal  war  chiefs  has 
threatened  if  we  do  not  abandon  our  settlement  his  warriors 
should  burn  our  houses  over  our  heads.  They  were,  at  the 
time  we  sent  our  other  petition,  destroying  our  crops  of 
wheat,  and  are  still  pasturing  their  horses  in  our  fields,  burn- 
ing our  fences,  and  have  thrown  the  roof  off  one  house. 
They  shot  arrows  at  our  cattle,  killed  our  hogs,  and  every 
mischief. 

We  have  tried  every  argument  to  the  agent  for  relief,  but 
he  tells  us  they  are  a  lawless  band,  and  he  has  nothing  to  do 
with  them  until  further  orders,  leaving  us  still  in  suspense, 
as  the  Indians  say  if  we  plant  we  shall  not  reap,  a  proof  of 
which  we  had  last  fall;  they  almost  entirely  destroyed  all  our 
crops  of  corn,  potatoes,  etc.  Believing  we  shall  receive  pro- 
tection from  your  excellency,  we  shall  go  on  with  our  farms 
until  the  return  of  the  bearer  ;  and  ever  remain  your  humble 
supplicants,  etc." 

This  petition  was  signed  by  almost  all  the  persons  who 
signed  the  first  petition.  On  his  way  to  Belleville  in  St.  Clair 
County,  where  Governor  Reynolds  lived,  Mr.  Pike  stopped 
over  in  Fulton  County  where  he  secured  the  following 
affidavit  : 
"  State  of  Illinois,  Fulton  County. 

"Personally  appeared  before  me,  Stephen  Dewey,  an  acting 
Justice  of  the  Peace  in  and  for  said  County  of  Fulton,  and 

37 


State  of  Illinois,  Hiram  Sanders  and  Ammyson  Chapman,  of 
the  aforesaid  county  and  state,  and  made  oath  that  some  time 
in  the  month  of  April  last  they  went  to  the  old  Indian  Sac 
town,  about  thirty  miles  up  Rock  River,  for  the  purpose  of 
farming  and  establishing  a  ferry  across  said  river,  and  the 
Indians  ordered  us  to  move  away  and  not  to  come  there 
again,  and  we  remained  there  a  few  hours. 

They  then  sent  for  their  chief  and  he  informed  us  that 
we  might  depart  peaceably  and  if  we  did  not  that  he  would 
make  us  go. 

He  therefore  ordered  the  Indians  to  throw  our  furniture 
out  of  the  house  :  they  accordingly  did  so  and  threatened  to 
kill  us  if  we  did  not  depart.  We  therefore  discovered  that 
our  lives  were  in  danger,  and  consequenth'  moved  back  again 
to  the  above  county. 

"We  then  supposed  them  to  be  principally  Winnebagoes. 

"  H.  Sanders, 
"A.  Chap:man. 
"  Sworn  and  subscribed  this  11th  day  of  May,  1831. 

"Stephen  Dewey,  J.  P." 


BENJAMIN  F.  PIKE'S  AFFIDAVIT. 

Upon  his  arrival  at  Belleville  Pike  had  prepared  the  follow- 
ing statement  : 
"State  of  Illinois,  St.  Clair  County. 

"Present,  Benjamin  F.  Pike,  before  me,  a  Ju.stice  of  the 
Peace  in  and  for  the  said  county,  and  made  oath  and  deposed, 
that  he  has  resided  in  the  vicinity  of  Rock  River,  in  the  State 
of  Illinois,  for  almo.st  three  years  last  past ;  that  he  is  well 
acquainted  with  the  band  of  the  Sac  Indians  whose  chief  is 
the  Black  Hawk,  and  who  have  resided  and  do  now  reside 
near  the  mouth  of  Rock  River  in  this  state  ;  that  he  under- 
stands so  much  of  the  said  Indian  language  as  to  converse 
with  the  said  Indians  intelligibly  ;  that  he  is  well  satisfied 
that  said  Indians,  to  the  amount  of  about  three  hundred  war- 
riors, are  extremely  unfriendly  to  the  white  people  ;  that  said 
Indians  are  determined,  if  not  prevented  by  force,  to  drive  off 
the  white  people,  who   have  some  of   them    purchased    land 

38 


of  the  United  vStates  near  said  Indians,  and  said   Indians  to 
remain  sole  occupiers  of  the  said  country. 

"  That  said  Indians  do  not  only  make  threats  to  this  eiTect, 
but  have,  in  various  instances,  done  much  damage  to  said 
white  inhabitants,  by  throwing  down  their  fences,  destroying 
the  fall  grain,  pulling  off  the  roofs  of  houses,  and  positively 
asserting  that  if  the  whites  do  not  go  away  they  would  kill 
them  ;  that  there  are  about  forty  inhabitants  and  heads  of 
families  in  the  vicinity  of  said  Indians,  who  are  immediately 
afTected  by  said  band  of  Indians  ;  that  said  Pike  is  certain 
that  said  forty  heads  of  families,  if  not  protected,  will  be  com- 
pelled to  leave  their  habitations  and  homes  from  the  actual 
injury  that  said  Indians  will  commit  on  said  inhabitants  ; 
that  said  band  of  Indians  consists,  as  above  stated,  of  about 
three  hundred  warriors,  and  that  the  whole  band  is  actuated 
by  the  same  hostile  feelings  towards  the  white  inhabitants  ; 
and  that,  if  not  prevented  by  an  armed  force  of  men,  will 
commit  on  said  white  inhabitants.  That  said  Indians  have 
said  that  they  would  fight  for  their  country  where  they 
reside,  and  would  not  permit  the  white  people  to  occupy  it  at 
all.  That  said  white  inhabitants  are  desirous  to  be  protected, 
and  that  immediately,  so  that  they  may  raise  crops  this 
spring  and  summer. 

"Benjamin  F.  Pike. 

"  Sworn  and  subscribed  before  me,  this  26th  May,  1831. 

"John  H.  Dennis,  J.  P." 

Pike  presented  his  petition  from  the  Rock  River  settlers 
and  these  affidavits  personally  to  Governor  Reynolds,  who 
on  the  same  day  issued  a  call  for  seven  hundred  mounted 
militia,  to  move  the  Indians  west  of  the  Mississippi  River. 
He  also  wrote  the  following  letter  to  General  Clark,  Super- 
intendent of  Indian  Affairs  : 

"Belleville,  26th  May,  1831. 
"Sir:  In  order  to  protect  the  citizens  of  this  state,  who 
reside  near  Rock  River,  from  Indian  invasion  and  depreda- 
tions, I  have  considered  it  necessary  to  call  out  a  force  of 
militia  of  this  state  of  about  seven  hundred  strong,  to  remove 
a  band  of  the  Sac  Indians  who  are  now  about  Rock  Island. 
The  object  of  the  government  of  the  state  is  to  protect  those 

39 


citizens  by  removing  said  Indians,  peaceably  if  they  can,  but 
forcibly-  if  they  must.  Those  Indians  are  now.  and  so  I  have 
considered  them,  in  a  state  of  actual  invasion  of  the  state. 

As  you  act  as  the  public  agent  of  the  United  States  in 
relation  to  those  Indians,  I  considered  it  my  duty  to  inform 
you  of  the  above  call  on  the  militia  and  that  in  or  about 
fifteen  days  a  sufficient  force  will  appear  before  said  Indians 
to  remove  them,  dead  or  alive,  over  to  the  west  side  of  the 
Mississippi ;  but  to  save  all  this  disagreeable  business,  per- 
haps a  request  from  you  to  them  for  them  to  remove  to  the 
west  side  of  the  river  would  effect  the  object  of  procuring 
peace  to  the  citizens  of  the  state.  There  is  no  disposition  on 
the  part  of  the  people  of  this  state  to  injure  those  unfortunate 
and  deluded  savages  if  they  will  let  us  alone ;  but  a  govern- 
ment that  does  not  protect  its  citizens  deser\-es  not  the  name 
of  a  government.  Please  correspond  with  me  at  this  place  on 
this  subject. 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"JOHX  Re\-xolds. 
"  Gen.  Clark,  Supt.,  etc." 

Felix  St.  Vrain,  the  then  agent  for  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  had 
in  the  meantime  gone  to  St.  Louis  and  in  the  following  letter 
sets  out  the  situation  at  Rock  River : 

"St.  Louis,  May  28,  1831. 
"Respected  Sir:  Since  my  last  of  the  15th  inst.  on  the 
subject  of  the  band  of  Sac  Indians,  etc.,  the  Indian  village  on 
Rock  River  near  Rock  Island,  I  have  heard  from  the  Indians 
and  some  of  the  whites  that  a  house  had  been  unroofed 
instead  of  pulled  down  and  burned,  and  that  the  fence  had 
caught  fire  by  accident.  As  regards  the  destroying  of  the 
wheat,  etc.,  the  Indians  say  that  a  white  man  hauled  some 
timber  through  a  field  and  left  the  fence  down  by  which 
means  their  horses  got  into  the  field.  This,  however,  has 
been  contradicted  by  the  white  inhabitants  of  that  place. 
They  say  that  the  Indians  are  constantly  troubling  them  by 
letting  their  horses  into  their  fields  and  killing  their  hogs, 
etc.  This,  however,  I  am  confident  is  occasioned  in  a  great 
measure  by  whisky  being  given  to  the  Indians  in  exchange 
for  their  guns,  traps,  etc. 

40 


' '  I  had  a  talk  with  the  principal  chief  and  braves  of  that 
band  of  Indians.  I  spoke  to  the  Black  Thunder,  who  is  the 
principal  of  that  band.  I  told  them  that  they  had  sold  those 
lands  to  the  government  of  the  United  vStates  and  that  they 
ought  to  remove  to  their  own  lands.  They  then  said  that 
they  had  only  sold  the  lands  south  of  the  river.  I  then 
produced  the  treaties  and  explained  to  them  that  they  had 
relinquished  their  rights  as  far  as  the  Ouisconsin.  Quash- 
quara-me  (the  Jumping  Fish)  then  said  that  he  had  only 
consented  to  the  limits  being  Rock  River,  but  that  a  Fox 
chief  agreed  (as  he  understands,  afterwards)  for  the  Ouiscon- 
sin ;  that  he  (Quash-quam-me)  had  been  deceived  and  that 
he  did  not  intend  it  to  be  so.  I  had  considerable  talk  with 
them  on  this  subject,  and  could  discover  nothing  hostile  in 
their  disposition  unless  their  decided  conviction  of  their  right 
to  the  place  could  be  construed  as  such.  I  have  been 
informed  that  a  white  man  and  his  family  had  gone  to 
an  Indian  village  on  the  borders  of  Rock  River  about  forty 
miles  from  Rock  Island,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a 
ferry,  and  that  the  Indians  at  that  place  had  driven  them 
away,  at  the  same  time  saying  to  them  that  they  would  not 
hurt  them,  but  they  should  not  live  there.  This  village  is 
occupied  by  a  mixture  of  Winnebago,  Sac  and  Fox  bands 
and  headed  by  the  Prophet,  a  chief.  I  have  the  honor  to  be 
"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"Felix  St.  Vrain,  Indian  Agent. 

"Gen.  William  Clark,  Supt.  Indian  Affairs,  St.  Louis." 

Upon  receipt  of  Governor  Reynold's  letter,  General  William 
Clark  sent  to  General  Edward  P.  Gaines  the  following  letter: 

"  Superintendency  of  Indian  Affairs. 
"St.  Louis,  May  28,  1831. 
'Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  you  a  copy  of  a  letter  of 
26th  inst.,  just  received  from  the  Governor  of  Illinois,  by 
which  you  will  perceive  he  has  thought  it  necessary  to  call 
out  a  force  of  about  700  militia  for  the  protection  of  the  citi- 
zens of  that  state,  who  reside  near  Rock  River,  and  for  the 
purpose  of  removing  a  band  of  Sacs  which  he  states  are  now 
about  Rock  Island. 

41 


As  the  commanding:  general  of  this  division  of  the  army, 
I  have  thought  it  my  duty  to  communicate  to  you  the  above 
information  :  and  for  the  purpose  of  putting  you  in  possei.sion 
of  the  views  of  the  go\ernment  in  relation  to  this  subject,  as 
well  as  to  inform  you  of  the  means  which  have  been  hereto- 
fore employed  for  the  removal  of  the  Sacs  now  complained  of, 
I  enclose  to  you  herewith  copies  of  my  correspondence  with 
the  War  Department  and  with  the  agent  for  those  tribes,  also 
extracts  from  such  of  their  reports  as  had  immediate  relation 
to  the  subject. 

The  Sacs  and  Foxes  have  been  counseled  with  on  the 
subject  of  their  removal  from  the  lands  which  they  had  ceded 
to  the  United  States.  The  prospect  of  collisions  with  the 
white  settlers  who  were  then  purchasing  those  lands,  and 
the  interminable  difficulties  in  which  they  would  be  involved 
thereby  were  pointed  out,  and  had  the  effect  of  convincing  a 
large  majority  of  both  tribes  of  the  impropriety  of  remaining 
at  their  old  village.  They,  therefore,  acquiesced  in  the 
justice  of  the  claim  of  the  United  States  and  expressed  their 
willingness  to  comply  with  my  request  to  remove  to  their 
new  village  on  loway  River,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  all  but 
parts  of  two  bands  headed  by  two  inconsiderable  chiefs,  who, 
after  abandoning  their  old  village,  have,  it  appears,  returned 
again,  in  defiance  of  all  consequences. 

Those  bands  are  distinguished  and  known  b>'  the  name 
of  'The  British  Party,'  having  been  for  many  years  in  the 
habit  of  making  annual  visits  at  Maiden  in  Upper  Canada 
for  the  purpose  of  receiving  their  presents,  and  it  is  believed 
to  be  owing  in  a  great  measure  to  the  counsels  they  have 
there  received,  that  so  little  influence  has  been  acquired  over 
them  by  the  United  States  agents. 

"  In  justice  to  Keokuk,  Wapello,  the  Stabbing  Chief,  and, 
indeed,  all  the  other  real  chiefs  and  principal  men  of  both 
tribes,  it  should  be  observed  that  thej-  have  constantlj-  and 
zealously  co-operated  with  the  government  agents  in  further- 
ance of  its  views,  and  in  their  endeavors  to  effect  the  removal 
of  all  their  property-  from  the  ceded  lands. 


42 


Any  information  in  my  possession  which  you  may  deem 
necessary  in  relation  to  this  subject  will  be  promptly  afforded. 
With  high  respect,  I  have  the  honor  to  be 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  William  Clark. 
"Major-General  Edmund  P.  Gaines,  Commanding  Western 
Department,  U.  S.  A. 

"p.  S.  The  agent  for  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  (Mr.  St.  Vrain) 
has  received  his  instructions  and  will  perform  any  .service 
you  may  require  of  him  with  the  Sacs  and  Foxes." 

General  Clark  the  same  day  sent  to  Governor'  Reynolds 
the  following  communication  in  reply  to  his  letter  : 

"  Superintendency  of  Indian  Affairs, 
"St.  Louis,  May  28,  1831. 

Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  letter  of  the  26th  inst.,  informing  me  of  your  having 
considered  it  necessary  to  call  out  a  force  of  militia  of  about 
seven  hundred  for  the  protection  of  the  citizens  of  Illinois 
who  reside  near  Rock  Island  invasion  and  for  the  purpose  of 
removing  a  band  of  Sac  Indians  who  are  now  about  Rock 
Island,  etc. 

You  intimate  that  to  prevent  the  necessity  of  employing 
this  force,  perhaps  a  request  from  me  to  those  Indians  to 
remove  to  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  would  effect  the 
object  of  procuring  peace  to  the  citizens  of  your  state.  In 
answer  to  which  I  would  beg  leave  to  observe,  that  every 
effort  on  my  part  has  been  made  to  effect  the  removal  of  all 
those  tribes  who  had  ceded  their  lands.  For  the  purpose  of 
affording  you  a  view  (in  part)  of  what  has  been  done  in  this 
matter,  I  enclose  you  herewith  extracts  from  the  reports  of 
the  agents  for  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  by  which  it  will  be  seen 
that  every  means,  short  of  actual  force,  has  been  employed  to 
effect  their  removal. 

' '  I  have  communicated  the  contents  of  your  letter  to 
General  Gaines,  who  commands  the  western  division  of  the 
army,  and  who  has  full  power  to  act  and  execute  any  military 
movement  deemed  necessary  for  the  protection  of  the  frontier. 
I  shall  also  furnish  him  with  such  information  regarding  the 
Sacs  and  Foxes  as  I  am  possessed  of,  and  would  beg  leave  to 

43 


refer    you    to    him    for    any    further    proceedings  in  relation 

to  this  subject.     I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"W.M.   Cl.AKK. 

"His  Excellency,  John  Reynolds,  Governor  of  Illinois." 

Governor  Reynolds  certainly  meant  business,  for  on  the 
same  day  he  sent  the  following  letter  : 

"  Belleville,  May  28,  1831. 
"  General  Gaines. 

' '  Sir :  I  have  received  undoubted  information  that  the 
section  of  this  state  near  Rock  Island  is  actually  invaded  by 
a  hostile  band  of  the  Sac  Indians  headed  by  Black  Hawk  ; 
and  in  order  to  repel  said  invasion,  and  to  protect  the  citizens 
of  the  state,  I  have,  under  the  provisions  of  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  and  the  laws  of  this  state,  called 
on  the  militia,  to  the  number  of  700  men,  who  will  be 
mounted  and  ready  for  service  in  a  very  short  time.  I  con- 
sider it  my  duty  to  lay  before  you  the  above  information,  so 
as  you,  commanding  the  military  forces  of  the  United  States 
in  this  part  of  the  Union,  may  adopt  such  measures  in  regard 
to  said  Indians  as  you  deem  right. 

' '  The  above  mentioned  mounted  volunteers  (because  such 
they  will  be)  will  be  in  readiness  immediately  to  move 
against  said  Indians,  and,  as  Executive  of  the  State  of 
Illinois,  I  respectfully  solicit  your  co-operation  in  this  busi- 
ness.    Please  honor  me  with  an  answer  to  this  letter. 

"  With  sincere  respect  to  your  character, 

"  I  am,  your  obedient  servant, 

John  Revnolds. ' ' 

To  which  letter  General  Gaines  replied  as  follows  : 

"  H.  Q.  Western  Department,  May  29,  1831. 
"His  Excellency,  Governor  Reynolds. 

"Sir:  I  do  myself  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  letter  of  yesterday's  date,  advising  me  of  your  having 
received  undoubted  information  that  the  section  of  the 
frontier  of  your  state  near  Rock  Island  is  invaded  by  a 
hostile  band  of  Sac  Indians  headed  by  a  chief  called  Black 
Hawk.     That  in  order  to  repel  said  invasion,  and  to  protect 

44 


the  citizens  of  the  state,  you  have  called  on  the  militia  to  the 
number  of  700  militiamen  to  be  in  readiness  immediately  to 
move  against  the  Indians    and  you  solicit  my  co-operation. 

"In  reply,  it  is  my  duty  to  state  to  you  that  I  have 
ordered  six  companies  of  the  regular  troops  stationed  at 
Jefferson  Barracks  to  embark  to-morrow  morning  and  repair 
forthwith  to  the  spot  occupied  by  the  hostile  Sacs.  To  this 
detachment  I  shall,  if  necessary,  add  four  companies.  With 
this  force  I  am  satisfied  that  I  shall  be  able  to  repel  the 
inva.sion  and  give  security  to  the  frontier  inhabitants  of  the 
state.  But  .should  the  hostile  band  be  sustained  by  the  resi- 
due of  the  Sac,  Fox  and  other  Indians  to  an  extent  requiring 
an  augmentation  of  my  force,  I  will,  in  that  event,  communi- 
cate with  Your  Excellency  by  express  and  avail  myself  of  the 
co-operation  which  you  propose.  But,  under  existing  cir- 
cumstances, and  the  present  aspect  of  our  Indian  relations  on 
the  Rock  Island  section  of  the  frontier,  I  do  not  deem  it 
nece.ssary  or  proper  to  require  militia,  or  any  other  descrip- 
tion of  force,  other  than  that  of  the  regular  army  at  this  place 
and  Prairie  du  Chien. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  Edmund  P.  Gaines, 
"Major-General  by  Brevet,  Commanding." 

General  Clark  the  following  day  forwarded  to  the  War 
Department  at  Washington  the  following  communication: 

"  Superintendency  of  Indian  Affairs, 
"St.  I.ouis,  May  30,  1831. 
Sir :  On  the  28th  inst.  I  had  the  honor  of  receiving  a 
letter  from  the  Governor  of  Illinois  dated  the  26th,  informing 
me  of  the  measures  which  he  had  considered  it  necessary  to 
pursue  for  the  protection  of  the  citizens  of  his  state  from 
Indian  invasion  and  for  the  purpose  of  removing  a  band  of 
Sacs  then  about  Rock  Island.  A  copy  of  his  letter  and  my 
answer  herewith  enclosed. 

"Deeming  the  information  received  from  the  Ciovernor  of 
Illinois  important,  I  immediately  communicated  it  to  General 
Gaines  who  happened  to  be  in  this  place  at  the  time,  and 
shortly  after  was  called  upon  by  Governor  Reynolds  himself 

45 


to  whom  I  gave  such  information  respecting  the  Sacs  com- 
plained of  as  had  come  to  my  knowledge,  and  also  furnished 
him  with  such  of  the  reports  of  the  agent  for  those  tribes  as 
had  relation  to  the  subject.  To  the  Commanding  General 
I  furnished  similar  information  ;  and  also  for  the  purpose  of 
possessing  him  of  the  views  of  the  government  on  that  sub- 
ject, I  gave  him  copies  of  such  of  my  correspondence  with 
the  War  Department  as  had  any  relation  thereto. 

' '  I  al.so  enclose  to  you  copies  of  two  reports  of  the  agent 
for  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  of  the  15th  and  28th  inst.  By  the 
first  it  will  be  seen  that  the  band  complained  of  is  determined 
to  keep  possession  of  their  old  village  :  and  it  is  probable  from 
a  knowledge  of  the  disposition  evinced  in  the  matter  by  the 
Sacs  and  for  the  purpose  of  dispossessing  them,  that  the 
Commanding  General  has  thought  proper  to  make  a  display 
in  that  quarter  of  a  part  of  the  force  under  his  command,  six 
companies  of  which  are  now  leaving  this  place  for  Rock 
River.  The  expedition  (be  the  result  what  it  may)  cannot 
fail  of  producing  good  effects,  even  should  the  Indians  be  dis- 
posed to  move  peaceably  to  their  own  lands ;  and  if  not,  their 
opposition  should,  in  my  opinion,  be  put  down  at  once. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  high  respect, 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"William  Cl.\rk. 

"The  Hon.  John  H.  Eaton,  Secretary  of  War." 


46 


GAINES  GOES  TO  FORT  ARMSTRONG. 

General  Gaines  immediately  proceeded  to  Fort  Armstrong 
and  upon  his  arrival  with  his  troops  commenced  putting  the 
fort  in  condition  to  withstand  a  siege  if  necessar.v.  The  six 
companies  he  brought  with  him  from  Jefferson  Barracks  were 
strengthened  by  four  additional  companies  from  Fort  Craw- 
ford, at  Prairie  du  Chien,  Wisconsin.  All  the  settlers  in  this 
vicinity  were  warned  of  impending  danger  and  came  to  the 
fort  with  their  families,  bringing  their  horses,  cattle  and 
everything  of  value  that  could  be  carried.  The  soldiers 
began  target  practice,  and  morning  and  evening  guns  were 
fired,  something  not  heretofore  done.  June  5  General  Gaines 
sent  for  Black  Hawk,  Keokuk,  Wapello  and  other  chiefs  for 
the  purpose  of  holding  a  council.  Black  Hawk  came  to  the 
council  attended  by  all  his  chiefs  and  many  warriors,  all  in 
war  paint,  carrying  arms,  and  singing  war  songs.  None  but 
the  chiefs  were  allowed  to  enter  the  fort,  and  here  in  the 
presence  of  Keokuk,  Wapello  and  other  head  chiefs,  General 
Gaines  told  Black  Hawk  that  he  and  his  band  must  move 
west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  that  if  they  did  not  go,  he, 
Gaines,  would  move  them  by  force.  Gaines  gave  the  Indians 
until  the  twentieth  in  which  to  move.  Previous  to  this  Black 
Hawk  had  held  two  interviews  with  the  Prophet,  a  Winne- 
bago living  at  his  village  where  Prophetstown  is  now  located. 
The  Prophet  claimed  to  have  had  visions  or  dreams,  and  .said 
that  the  white  soldiers  would  do  no  one  any  harm,  that  their 
object  was  merely  to  frighten  the  Indians,  and  it  was  upon 
this  information  that  Black  Hawk  acted. 


47 


GAINES  ASKvS  AID  FROM  THE  GOVERNOR. 

After  the  council,  General  Gaines  at  once  sent  by  special 
messenger  the  following  letter  to  Governor  Reynolds  : 

"Headquarters,  Rock  Island,  June  5,  1831. 
"  John  Reynolds,  Governor  of  Illinois. 

Sir:  I  do  myself  the  honor  to  report  to  Your  Excellency 
the  result  of  my  conference  with  the  chiefs  and  braves  of  the 
band  of  Sac  Indians  settled  within  the  limits  of  your  state 
near  this  place. 

' '  I  called  their  attention  to  the  facts  reported  to  me  of 
their  disorderly  conduct  towards  the  white  inhabitants  near 
them.  They  disavow  any  intention  of  hostility  but  at  the 
same  time  adhere  with  stubborn  pertinacity  to  their  purpose 
of  remaining  on  the  Rock  River  land  in  question. 

"  I  notified  them  of  mj^  determination  to  move  them, 
peaceably  if  po.ssible,  but  at  all  ev-ents  to  move  them  to  their 
own  side  of  the  Mississippi  River,  pointing  out  to  them  the 
apparent  impossibility  of  their  living  on  lands  purchased  by 
the  whites  without  constant  disturbance.  They  contended 
that  this  part  of  their  country  had  never  been  sold  by  them. 
I  explained  to  them  the  different  treaties  of  1804,  '16  and  '25, 
and  concluded  with  a  positive  assurance  that  they  must  move  off, 
and  that  I  must  as  soon  as  they  are  ready  assist  them  with  boats. 

"I  have  this  morning  learned  that  they  have  invited  the 
Prophet's  band  of  Winnebagoes  on  Rock  River,  with  some 
Pottawattomies  and  Kickapoos,  to  join  them.  If  I  find  this  to 
be  true,  I  shall  gladly  avail  myself  of  my  present  visit  to  see 
them  well  punished  ;  and,  therefore,  I  deem  it  to  be  the  only 
safe  measure  now  to  be  taken  to  request  of  Your  Excellency 
the  battalion  of  mounted  men  which  you  did  me  the  honor  to 
say  would  co-operate  with  me.  They  will  find  at  this  post  a 
supply  of  rations  for  the  men,  with  some  corn  for  their 
horses,  together  with  a  supply  of  powder  and  lead. 

"I  have  deemed  it  expedient  under  all  the  circinnstances  of 
the  case  to  invite  the  frontier  inhabitants  to  bring  their 
families  to  this  post  until  the  difference  is  over. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect, 
"Your  obedient  servant, 

"  Edw.\rd  p.  G.\ixe.s, 
"  Major-General  by  Brevet,  Commanding. 

48 


"p.  S.  Since  writing  the  foregoing  remarks,  I  have  learned 
that  the  Winnebagoes  and  Pottawattomie  Indians  have  actually 
been  invited  by  the  Sacs  to  join  them.  But  the  former  evince 
no  disposition  to  comply  ;  and  it  is  supposed  by  Colonel 
Gratiot,  the  agent,  that  none  will  join  the  Sacs,  except,  per- 
haps, some  few  of  the  Kickapoos.  E.  P.  G." 

This  letter  evidently  pleased  Governor  Reynolds  for  he  said: 
"  I  was  very  much  rejoiced  on  receiving  this  letter,  as  it  put 
my  whole  proceedings  on  a  legal  and  constitutional  footing, 
and  the  responsibility  of  the  war  was  removed  from  me  to  the 
United  States." 


THE   SETTLERS'    AFFIDAVITS. 

While  at  Fort  Armstrong  the  settlers  had  prepared  another 
petition,  together  with  numerous  affidavits,  which  they  pre- 
sented to  General  Gaines.  The  following  is  the  substance 
of  the  depositions  of  sundry  citizens  of  the  Rock  River  settle- 
ment, taken  before  William  Brasher,  J.  P.,  and  Joel  Wells,  J. 
P.,  on  the  10th  of  June,  1831. 

"  First.  John  Wells,  John  W.  Spencer,  Jonah  H.  Case, 
Rennah  Wells,  Samuel  Wells,  Benjamin  F.  Pike,  Joseph  Dan- 
forth  and  Moses  Johnson,  before  Wm.  Brazer,  J.  P.,  swear 
that  the  Sac  Indians  did  through  the  last  year  repeatedly 
threaten  to  kill  them  for  being  on  their  ground,  and  acted  in 
the  most  outrageous  manner:  threw  down  their  fences,  burnt 
or  destroyed  their  rails,  turned  horses  into  their  cornfields  and 
almost  destroyed  their  crops,  stole  their  potatoes,  killed  and 
ate  their  hogs,  shot  arrows  into  their  cattle  and  put  out  their 
eyes,  thereby  rendering  them  u.seless  to  their  owners,  saying 
the  land  was  theirs,  and  that  they  had  not  sold  it.  In  April 
they  ordered  the  deponents  to  leave  their  houses,  and  turned 
from  fifty  to  one  hundred  horses  into  one  man's  wheat  field, 
threatening  that  the  fields  should  not  be  reaped,  although  said 
owners  had  purchased  the  land  of  the  United  States  govern- 
ment. The  Indians  also  leveled  deadly  weapons  at  the  citi- 
zens, and  on  some  occasions  hurt  some  of  the  said  citizens, 
for  attempting  to  prevent  the  destruction  of  their  property. 
Also  that  the  Indians  stole  their  horses,  some  of  which  were 

49 


I 
returned  by  the  agent  six  or  eight    months  after,   and  in  a 

miserable   condition;     others    were    never    heard    of    again. 

Nearly  fifty  Indians  headed  by  their  notorious  war  chief,  all 

armed  and  equipped  for  war,  came  to  the  house  of  Rennah 

Wells,   and  ordered   him  to  be  off  or  they  would   kill   him, 

which,  for  the  safety  of  his  family,  he  obeyed.     They  then 

went  to  another    house,  rolled  out    a   barrel  of   whisky  and 

destroyed  it,  as  well  as  committing  many  other  outrages  to 

the  knowledge  of  the  deponents. 

"  Second.  John  Wells,  before  Joel  Wells,  J.  P.,  swore  that 
on  the  30th  day  of  September,  1830,  he  saw  two  Sac  Indians 
throwing  down  his  fence,  who  said  they  were  doing  it  for 
the  purpose  of  going  through,  in  which  they  persisted 
although  forbidden  by  the  owner,  and  when  the  owner  at- 
tempted to  prevent  them,  one  of  them  made  a  pass  at  him 
with  his  fist,  and  drew  his  knife  on  him. 

Third.  Rennah  and  Samuel  Wells,  before  Joel  Wells,  J. 
P.,  swore  that  on  the  29th  of  May  a  party  of  Sac  Indians, 
calling  themselves  chiefs,  with  Black  Hawk  at  their  head, 
came  to  the  house  of  Rennah  Wells,  near  the  mouth  of  Rock 
River,  and  said  that  he  must  let  the  squaws  cultivate  his 
field,  which  Wells  refusing,  they  became  much  displeased, 
and  told  him  to  go  off ;  upon  Wells'  refusal  they  went  away. 
That  on  the  next  day  the  same  chiefs,  with  about  fifty  war- 
riors, came,  armed,  and  told  Wells  that  he  must  move  or  they 
would  cut  the  throats  of  himself  and  family,  and  making 
motions  to  that  effect,  upon  which  said  Wells  told  them  that 
he  would  take  counsel  and  tell  them  at  three  o'clock  the  next 
day  what  would  be  his  determination.  They  consented,  and 
went  away  ;  at  the  appointed  time  they  returned  and  told 
Wells  that  he  must  go  off,  which  he  accordingly  did,  leaving 
all  his  possessions  to  the  Indians. 

"  Fourth.  Nancy  Thompson  and  Nancy  Wells,  before  W. 
J.  Brasher,  swore  that  in  October,  1830,  two  Indians  resid- 
ing in  the  village  forty  or  fifty  miles  above  the  mouth  of  Rock 
River,  and  called  Sacs  or  Winnebagoes,  came  to  the  house  of 
Rennah  Wells  and  conuuenced  chasing  some  sheep,  as  if  they 
would  kill  them.  Those  Indians  were  ordered  to  desist,  upon 
which   they  drew  their  knives  and  made  at  the  woman,   who 

50 


being  alarmed,  called  for  assistance.  Samuel  Wells  being  sick 
in  the  house  at  the  time,  ran  out  with  a  pitchfork,  and  the 
Indians  pursued  no  farther.  London  L.  Case  heard  the 
alarm  given,  and  joined.  The  Indians  then  returned  to  the 
river  bank  eighty  or  one  hundred  yards  distant  ;  when  Case, 
thinking  they  were  still  in  pursuit  of  the  sheep,  went  to 
ascertain  the  truth,  and  coming  near  the  Indians  they  wounded 
him  severely  in  three  places  with  a  knife  and  tomahawk. 

"Fifth.  Joseph  Danforth,  before  Joel  Wells,  J.  P.,  swore 
that  he  saw  Sacs  at  a  fence  belonging  to  John  Wells,  who  for- 
bid them  going  through,  when  they  continued  throwing  down 
the  fence.  Wells  attempted  to  prevent  them,  when  one  of 
the  Indians  struck  him  with  his  fist,  and  drew  his  knife. 
Danforth  got  a  stick,  and  the  Indians  making  several  attempts 
toward  Danforth,  he  (Danforth)  knocked  one  of  them  down 
with  his  stick.  The  Indian  rose  several  times  and  made  at 
Danforth  with  his  knife,  and  finally  deserted  the  ground, 
leaving  his  knife." 

THE  ACxENT  FEARS  TROUBLE. 

June  4,  General  Gaines  wrote  to  Henry  Gratiot,  Sub- 
Indian  agent,  to  investigate  the  situation  at  the  Sac  village 
at  once ;  and  on  the  twelfth  that  gentleman  sent  the  follow- 
ing reply : 

"Rock  Lsland,  June  12,  1831. 
Sir :  I  have  the  honor  to  report  to  you  that,  agreeably 
to  my  intimation  to  you,  I  visited  the  village  of  Sac  Indians 
near  this  place  yesterday  for  the  purpose  of  persuading  off 
the  Winnebago  Prophet  and  some  young  men  of  his  band 
whom  I  knew  had  previously  been  there  and,  I  believe,  with 
an  intention  to  support  the  Sac  Indians.  I  found  that  the 
Prophet  had  just  left  there  for  his  village,  which  is  within  my 
agency  upon  Rock  River,  and  although  he  had  previously 
promised  that  he  would  return  home  and  remain  there,  I 
have  reason  to  believe  that  his  object  is  to  get  as  many  of  his 
band  and  of  the  other  bands  of  the  Winnebagoes  (who  reside 
at  Rock  River,  within  my  agency)  as  he  can,  for  the  purpose 
of  joining  the  Sacs  and  of  supporting  them  in  their  present 
pretensions. 

51 


"  I  have  recently  been  at  some  of  the  principal  villages  of 
Winnebagoes  within  my  agency,  and  have  ascertained  from 
unquestionable  authority  that,  although  they  had  been 
invited  to  join  the  Sacs,  they  had  refused  to  do  so.  I  think 
it  will  be  prudent  for  me  to  follow  the  Prophet,  to  prevent 
him  from  influencing  any  of  the  Indians  up  the  river  to  join 
him.  Should  I,  however,  find  that  any  ot  the  warriors  have 
left  before  my  arrival  amongst  them,  I  will  (if  you  think  it 
best)  return  immediately  to  this  place,  bringing  with  me 
three  or  four  influential  chiefs  who  can  be  relied  on  and  who 
will,  with  my  assistance,  I  think,  be  able  to  control  them. 

"  In  my  opinion  there  are  at  least  400  warriors  at  the  Sac 
village  which  I  visited  yesterday,  apparently  determined  to 
defend  themselves  in  their  present  position.  On  the  receipt 
of  your  letter  on  the  4th  inst.,  I  immediately  hastened  to  this 
place  with  a  view  to  give  you  the  most  satisfactory  informa- 
tion upon  the  stibject  of  it  and  tender  my  services  in  any  way 
you  may  think  useful. 

"I  am,   respectfully  yours, 

"Henry  Gr.vtiot,  Sub-Agent,  etc. 

"  Major-General  Gaines." 


52 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  RANGERS. 


At  the  suggestion  of  Judge  Spencer  the  men  and  larger 
boys  of  the  settlement  formed  themselves  into  a  company, 
elected  officers,  and  named  themselves  "Rock  River  Rang- 
ers," and  tendered  their  services  to  General  Gaines,  who 
accepted  the  company  of  fifty-eight  men,  and  June  5,  1831, 
mustered  them  into  the  ser\4ce.  No  record  of  this  company's 
enrollment  has  been  found,  it  probably  never  having  been 
forwarded  to  Washington.  The  following  is  a  roster  of  the 
company : 

Captain  :     Benjamin  F.  Pike. 
First  Lieutenant:     John  \V.  Spencer. 
Second  Lieutenant :    Griffith  Aubur\-. 

Sergeants:     James  Haskill,   Leonard  Bryant,   Edward  Corbin 
Corporals :     Charles  French,  Benjamin   Goble,   Charles   Case,  Henry 
Benson. 


Allen,  Archibald 
Brashar,  William  T. 
Bane,  John 
Bartlett.  Michael 
Been, Joseph 
Case,  Jonah  H. 
Danforth,  Joseph 
Davis,  Thomas 
Dance,  Russell 
Frith,  Isaiah 
Gardner,  Thomas 
Harlan,  George  W. 
Hultz,  Uriah  S. 
Hubbard,  Thomas 
Hubbard,  Goodridge 
Henderson,  Cyrus 


Johnson,  Moses 
Kinney,  John  W. 
Kinney,  Samuel 
Leek,  Conrad 
Levitt,  Thomas 
McNeil,  Henry 
Miller,  George 
McGee,  Gentry 
Noble,  Amos  C. 
Syms,  Thomas 
Syms,  Robert 
Sams,  William  F. 
Smith,  Martin  W. 
Stringfield,  Sevier 
Thompson,  Joel 
Vandruff,  Joshua 


Vandruff,  Henry 
Vandruff,  Samuel 
Vannetta,  Benjamin 
Vannetta,  Gorham 
Varner,  Edward 
Wells,  Levi 
Wells,  George 
Wells,  Joel,  Sr. 
Wells,  Joel,  Jr. 
Wells,  Huntington 
Wells,  John 
Wells,  Samuel 
Wells,  Rinnah 
Wells,  .\saph 
Wells,  Eri 
Wells,  Ira 


53 


GENERAL  GAINES  MAKES  A 
DEMONSTRATION. 

On  the  18th  of  June,  General  Gaines  sent  front  Fort 
Armstrong  the  steamboat  Enterprise,  carrj-ing  one  company 
of  soldiers  and  one  cannon.  The  boat  steamed  up  Rock 
River,  and  passed  the  Indian  village,  the  object  being  to  over- 
awe and  intimidate  the  Indians.  Black  Hawk  said  :  ' '  The 
water  being  shallow,  the  boat  got  aground,  which  gave  the 
whites  some  trouble.  If  they  had  asked  for  assistance,  there 
was  not  a  brave  in  my  band  who  would  not  willingly  have 
aided  them."  Judge  John  W.  Spencer  who  was  on  the  boat 
says;  "Strange  to  say,  although  a  steamboat  was  seldom 
seen  in  those  days,  the  Indians  seemed  not  to  take  the  least 
notice  of  the  boat,  not  even  looking  at  it,  and  even  the 
women  and  children  showed  no  signs  of  wonder  or  fear." 


THE  ILLINOIS  MILITIA. 

Governor  Reynolds  in  defending  his  position  in  calling 
out  the  militia  said  :  "  If  I  did  not  act,  and  the  inhabitants 
were  murdered,  after  being  informed  of  their  situation,  I 
would  be  condemned  from  Dan  to  Beersheba  ;  and  if  I  levied 
by  raising  troops,  when  there  was  no  necessity  for  it,  I  would 
also  be  responsible."  Governor  Reynolds  knew  that  the 
settlers  had  applied  to  the  Indian  agent  and  the  military 
officers  of  the  United  States  and  had  obtained  no  relief,  and 
he  says :  "I  considered  it  my  dut\'  to  call  on  the  volunteers 
to  move  the  Indians  to  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi."  It 
was  but  seventeen  years  after  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812 
and  these  same  Sacs  and  Foxes  had  fought  the  Americans  in 
that  war.  There  were  many  of  the  old  soldiers  still  young 
enough  to  enlist  and  they  inflamed  the  young  men  to  appear 
against  their  old  foe.  The  Governor  had  extracts  from  the 
petitions  sent  him  circulated  throughout  the  counties  from 
which  he  had  asked  for  troops.  Moreover,  he  made,  as  he 
says,  "  both  private  and  public  speeches  to  the  masses,"  and 
urged  the  people  and  his  friends  to  turn  out  for  the  defense 
of  the  frontier.     He  adds  :     ' '  The  warm  feelings  of  the  late 

54 


election  for  governor  had  not  yet  died  away,  and  my 
electioneering  friends  converted  their  electioneering  fever 
into  the  militarj-,  which  was  a  powerful  lever  in  the  crusade 
for  Rock  Island." 

Although  it  was  the  most  busy  time  in  the  year  with  the 
farmers  some  1,600  responded  to  the  Governor's  call  and 
appeared  at  Beardstown  on  or  about  the  10th  of  June.  Some 
were  armed  with  muskets,  some  with  shotguns  and  some  with 
no  firearms  whatsoever,  but  all  were  mounted.  The  Gover- 
nor managed  to  purchase  enough  muskets  from  a  Beardstown 
merchant  for  the  remainder  of  the  troops.  These  muskets 
were  light  pieces,  made  with  brass  barrels  for  the  South 
American  service,  and  answered  the  purpose.  The  Governor 
appointed  Joseph  Duncan,  then  a  member  of  Congress  and 
afterwards  governor  of  this  state,  brigadier  general  to  take 
immediate  command  of  the  brigade,  and  Samuel  \\^hiteside  a 
major,  to  take  command  of  a  spy  battalion. 

This  army  left  its  encampment  near  Rush\-ille  for  Rock 
Island  June  15,  the  Governor  marching  with  the  brigade. 
On  the  nineteenth,  at  about  2  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  after  a 
pleasant  march  the  army  encamped  at  Rockport,  now  Anda- 
lusia. Here  there  had  been  previously  erected  a  small  log 
cabin  or  stockade,  which  was  used  as  headquarters.  During 
the  afternoon  General  Gaines  arrived  at  the  encampment, 
coming  from  Fort  Armstrong  on  a  steamboat  loaded  with 
provisions,  and  here  the  Illinois  troops  were  received  into  the 
ser\-ice  of  the  United  States  by  General  Gaines.  The  camp  at 
Rockport  was  laid  out  according  to  military  practice,  pickets 
were  placed,  as  it  was  feared  the  Indians  might  make  a  night 
attack,  and  the  utmost  vigilance  was  observed.  The  night 
was  a  beautiful  one  and  it  passed  off  quietly  without  any 
disturbance. 


55 


ATTACK  ON  THE  SAC  VILLAGE. 

Oil  the  morning  of  June  20,  bright  and  early,  General  Dun- 
can marched  his  army  from  Rockport  to  a  position  on  Rock 
river  opposite  the  Sac  village.  An  attempt  was  made  to  ferry 
the  troops  across,  but  it  proved  too  slow,  and  General  Gaines 
being  shown  a  ford  by  George  S.  Miller,  the  army  marched 
across  through  the  water  to  Vandruff's  Island.  General 
Gaines  left  Fort  Armstrong  on  the  .steamboat  Enterprise, 
which  had  been  fortified,  and  which  carried  one  company  of 
regulars  and  several  cannon.  The  Enterpri.se  entered  Rock 
River  and  steamed  up  stream  until  opposite  the  Sac  village 
where  it  met  General  Duncan's  army  with  which  it  was  to 
co-operate.  The  other  nine  companies  of  regulars,  together 
with  the  Rock  River  Rangers,  under  command  of  Captain 
John  Bliss,  the  then  commandant  of  Fort  Armstrong, 
marched  from  the  fort  to  the  Indian  town. 

Judge  Spencer  in  his  reminiscences  says:  "Major  Bliss 
formed  our  company  of  Rock  River  Rangers  in  an  extended 
line  of  a  half  mile  in  front  of  the  regulars,  with  one  cannon  in 
the  rear,  for  our  march  for  Rock  River.  We  inarched  near 
where  the  road  is  now  traveled  until  we  reached  General 
Rodman's  land,  then  turning  to  the  left  until  reaching  the 
top  of  the  bluff,  taking  the  direction  of  Black  Hawk's  Watch 
Tower.  On  arriving  there,  we  planted  the  cannon  on  the 
brow  of  the  bluff  and  then  commenced  throwing  grape  and 
cannister  into  the  bushes  on  \'andruft"'s  Island."  Vandruff's 
Island  at  this  time  was  covered  with  bushes  and  vines  so  as  to 
be  impenetrable  to  the  sight  at  a  distance  of  twenty  feet. 
The  Enterprise  was  run  to  the  lower  point  of  the  island  and 
several  rounds  of  grape  and  cannister  were  shot  into  the 
bushes  to  see  if  any  enemy  was  there.  The  .spy  battalion 
under  Whiteside  then  formed  a  line  of  battle  and  swept  the 
island,  and  it  was  then  learned  that  the  north  bank  of  Rock 
River  was  so  near  and  so  high  that  the  firing  had  no  effect. 
General  Duncan's  army  followed  in  the  wake  of  Whiteside's 
spy  battalion,  and  before  they  got  to  the  north  side  of  the 
island  the  army  was  so  jammed  up  and  mixed  together  that 
no  one  knew  where  his  company  or  regiment  was.  In  the 
meantime  Captain  Bliss  with  the  regulars  and  the  Rock  River 

56 


Rangers  had  learned  that  it  was  impossible  from  that  distance 
to  distinguish  Indians  from  regulars  or  volunteers,  and  that 
their  shots  were  as  likely  to  kill  friend  as  foe.  The  Indian 
village  now  became  exposed  to  view  but  no  Indians  were  to 
be  seen.  The  river,  narrow  but  deep,  lay  between  the  army 
and  the  village,  and  the  main  part  of  Duncan's  army  remained 
on  the  island  until  scows  were  found  in  which  they  were 
ferried  across. ' ' 

Black  Hawk  says  :  ' '  We  crossed  the  river  during  the 
night  and  encamped  some  di,stance  below  Rock  Island."  He 
said  he  would  have  remained  and  been  taken  prisoner  by  the 
regulars  but  that  he  "  was  afraid  of  the  multitude  of  pale- 
faced  militia,  who  were  on  horseback,  as  they  were  under  no 
restraint  of  their  chiefs." 


THE  SACKING  OF  THE  TOWN. 

The  Illinois  militia  had  come  to  fight  Indians  and  when 
they  found  the  rednien  gone  became  determined  to  be  avenged 
upon  something.  Shortly  after  they  reached  the  Indian  vil- 
lage it  began  to  rain  and  soon  the  rain  descended  in  torrents, 
but  instead  of  seeking  the  shelter  of  the  Indian  wigwams 
the  troops  commenced  setting  fire  to  the  houses.  Soon  the 
frail  dwellings  were  wrapped  in  flames  and  in  less  than  one 
hour's  time  almost  every  wigwam  in  the  village  was  in  ashes. 
Governor  Ford  who  was  present  said  ;  ' '  And  thus  perished 
an  ancient  village  which  had  once  been  the  delightful  home 
of  six  or  seven  thousand  Indians  ;  where  generation  after 
generation  had  been  born,  had  died  and  been  buried  ;  where 
the  old  men  had  taught  wisdom  to  the  young ;  whence  the 
Indian  youth  had  often  gone  out  in  parties  to  hunt  or  to  war, 
and  returned  in  triumph  to  dance  around  the  spoils  of  the 
forest,  or  the  scalps  of  their  enemies  ;  and  where  the  dark- 
eyed  Indian  maidens,  by  their  presence  and  charms,  had  made 
it  a  scene  of    delightful  enchantment    to  many   an  admiring 


57 


THE   STAMPEDE. 

The  army  spent  the  night  at  the  Indian  town,  the  regulars, 
however,  going  back  to  the  foft.  On  the  morning  of  June  21 
General  Duncan  marched  his  army  to  the  Mississippi  River 
and  encamped  on  the  exact  spot  where  the  City  of  Rock 
Island  is  now  located,  the  camp  extending  from  where  the 
Rock  Island  Railway  Company's  freight  depot  is  now  located 
down  to  where  the  present  ferry  dock  stands. 

The  horses,  some  sixteen  hundred,  were  pastured  in  the 
bend  of  the  river  below  and  a  strong  guard  placed  around 
them.  During  the  second  night  a  steamboat  came  up  the 
river  and  when  opposite  where  the  horses  were  kept  com- 
menced blowing  its  whistle.  This  unnatural  noise  at  night  so 
frightened  the  animals  that  they  broke  loose  and  stampeded, 
and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  their  guards  escaped  being 
trampled  to  death.  The  frightened  animals  ran  out  on  the 
prairies,  up  and  down  both  river  banks,  and  it  was  several 
days  before  they  could  be  recovered,  some  few  however  being 
lost. 

BLACK  HAWK  SIGNS  THE  TREATY. 

General  Gaines  on  the  22d  sent  a  notice  to  Black  Hawk  that 
if  he  did  not  come  to  Fort  Armstrong  he  would  come  after 
him  with  his  army.  In  a  few  days  a  few  of  the  Indians 
appeared  but  not  Black  Hawk.  Gaines  then  sent  a  peremptory 
order  to  the  chief  and  in  a  few  days  Black  Hawk  and  his 
chiefs  and  headmen  to  the  number  of  twenty-eight  appeared 
at  Fort  Armstrong,  and  on  June  30th,  1831,  a  new  treaty  was 
signed  by  which  the  British  band  of  Sacs  again  agreed  to 
make  their  homes  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  and 
never  to  cross  such  river,  except  with  the  consent  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States  or  of  the  Governor  of  Illinois. 
Black  Hawk  signed  this  treaty  and  then  for  the  first  time 
ratified,  against  his  will,  the  treaty  of  1804.  This  treaty  was 
signed  by  General  Gaines  and  Governor  Reynolds  for  the 
United  States,  and  by  Black  Hawk  and  twenty-seven  chiefs 
and  warriors  for  the  Sacs  and  Foxes.  The  volunteer  army 
was  not  satisfied  with  the  result  of  this  campaign  and  called 

58 


the  treaty  a  "Corn  Treaty"  because  General  Gaines  had 
given  to  the  destitute  Indians  corn  to  keep  them  from  starr- 
ing. The  army  was  disbanded  on  July  2d,  and  the  men 
returned  to  their  homes.  Not  a  man  was  injured  or  killed, 
either  by  accident  or  by  the  Indians  ;  nor  did  any  die  of 
disease.     This  ended  the  first  Black  Hawk  campaign. 

For  a  long  time  after  the  signing  of  this  treaty  there  was 
considerable  discussion  and  much  feeling  over  the  question 
whether  Generals  Gaines  and  Duncan  knew  that  Black  Hawk 
and  his  Indians  had  deserted  their  village  on  the  night  of  the 
19th  of  June.  Thomas  Ford,  afterwards  Governor  of  Illinois, 
who  was  a  militia  volunteer  and  marched  ahead  with  the 
spies,  said  : 

Gaines  and  Duncan  had  reason  to  believe  before  the 
commencement  of  the  march  from  the  camp  on  the  Missis- 
sippi, that  the  Indians  had  departed  from  their  village  ;  that 
measures  had  been  taken  to  ascertain  the  fact  before  the 
volunteers  crossed  to  \'andruff's  Island  ;  General  Duncan,  in 
company  with  the  advanced  guard,  following  the  spies,  pre- 
ceded the  main  army  in  crossing,  and  that  this  will  account 
for  the  want  of  order  and  confusion  in  the  march  of  the 
troops."  When  the  militia  arrived  opposite  the  Sac  village 
the  greatest  confusion  reigned  in  their  midst.  George  S. 
Miller,  a  resident  of  this  county,  acted  as  guide,  and  when  it 
became  known  that  the  Indians  were  not  in  the  village. 
General  Duncan  began  to  reprimand  Miller  for  not  letting 
him  know  that  the  main  river  was  on  the  north  side  of  \'and- 
ruff's  Island.  Miller  cursed  him  to  his  face  at  the  head  of 
his  troops  for  refusing  his  services  as  a  guide  when  offered 
the  night  before,  and  also  censured  him  for  not  giving  infor- 
mation which  he  had  refused  to  receive,  which  inclines  me 
to  the  belief  that  both  Generals  Gaines  and  Duncan  knew 
that  the  Indians  had  departed. 

As  witnesses  to  this  treaty  we  find  the  names  of  two  Rock 
Island  settlers,  Joseph  Danforth  and  Benjamin  F.  Pike. 


59 


IIMVEPV 


LlINUIi. 


COLONEL    GEORGE    DAVENPORT. 


Part  III 

The  Black  Hawk  War,  The  Turkey  Scare,  Black 
Hawk  Again  Invades  the  Rock  River  Country, 
The  Governor's  Proclamation,  Rock  Island  Set- 
tlers who  w.ere  Soldiers  in  the  War,  End  of  the 
War,  List  of  Settlers. 


Part  III 


THE  SECOND  CAMPAIGN. 

Black  Hawk  with  his  band  now  removed  to  Iowa  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Des  Moines  River,  at  the  site  of  the  abandoned 
Fort  Madison.  N.eapope,  .second  in  command,  took  a  trip  to 
Maiden,  Canada,  and  upon  his  return  in  the  fall  of  1831  told 
Black  Hawk  that  he  would  receive  assistance  from  the  Brit- 
ish. The  Prophet,  who  had  great  influence  over  Black 
Hawk,  also  sent  word  that  the  Ottawas,  Chippewas,  Potta- 
watomies  and  Winnebagoes  would  be  with  him  and  would 
render  aid.  Black  Hawk  after  receiving  these  messages  said: 
"We  are  to  be  happy  once  more."  Black  Hawk  now 
directed  all  his  efforts  to  getting  together  his  warriors  in 
anticipation  of  his  march  to  his  old  village  and  its  occupation, 
and  prepared  for  an  attack  by  the  Americans  should  they 
again  undertake  to  drive  him  away.  The  army  through  spies 
was  kept  informed  of  Black  Hawk's  actions,  and  early  in 
April  Keokuk  sent  to  Fort  Armstrong  a  warning  that  Black 
Hawk  was  about  to  commence  his  march  to  retake  his  old 
village. 

Again  messengers  were  sent  out  from  Fort  Armstrong  to 
warn  the  settlers  of  their  danger  and  ad\'ising  them  to  seek 
shelter  at  once  either  at  Fort  Armstrong  or  in  the  stockade 
which  had  been  erected  around  the  trading  store  of  Daven- 
port &  Farnham.  The  most  daring  and  persevering  of  these 
messengers  was  Judge  John  W.  Spencer.  On  foot  he  traveled 
as  far  as  Dixon,  going  from  cabin  to  cabin  sounding  the 
alarm  and  advising  the  settlers  to  .seek  protection.  We  can- 
not realize  today  the  wild  excitement  and  dread  despair  the 
news  of  an  Indian  uprising  caused  among  our  pioneer  set- 
tlers. Few  if  any  had  horses  to  use  in  carrying  their  families 
and  goods.     Oxen  were  the  beasts  of  burden  and  the  settlers 

63 


were  obliged  to  take  wliat  little  they  could  and  carry  it  on 
their  persons.  John  Wakefield,  in  his  liistory  of  the  Black 
Hawk  War  written  in  1834,  gives  an  amusing  sketch  of  the 
excitement  attendant  upon  the  news  of  an  expected  Indian 
attack.  He  says:  "In  the  eastern  part  of  the  state  the 
people  were  as  much  alarmed  as  in  the  northwest.  During 
one  of  the  many  false  alarms  that  '  The  Indians  are  coming' 
a  family  was  living  near  the  Iroquois  River  that  had  no 
horses  but  a  large  family  of  small  children.  The  father  and 
mother  each  took  a  child  and  the  rest  were  directed  to  follow 
on  foot  as  fast  as  possible.  The  eldest  daughter  also  carried 
one  of  the  children  that  was  not  able  to  keep  up.  They  fled 
to  the  river  where  they  had  to  cross.  The  father  had  to 
carry  over  all  the  children  at  different  times  as  the  stream 
was  high  and  so  rapid  the  mother  and  daughter  could  not 
.stem  the  current  with  such  a  burden.  When  they  all,  as  they 
thought,  had  got  over  they  started  when  the  cry  of  poor  little 
Su-san  was  heard  on  the  opposite  bank  asking  if  they  were 
not  going  to  take  her  with  them.  The  frightened  father 
again  prepared  to  plunge  into  the  strong  current  for  his  child 
when  the  mother,  seeing  it,  cried  out :  '  Never  mind  Susan  ! 
We  have  succeeded  in  getting  ten  over  which  is  more  than 
we  expected  at  first  and  we  can  better  spare  Susan  than  >-ou, 
my  dear. '  So  poor  Susan,  who  was  only  about  four  3'ears  old, 
was  left  to  the  mercy  of  the  frightful  savages."  But  poor 
little  Susan  came  off  unhurt,  as  one  of  the  neighbors  who  was 
out  hunting  came  along  and  took  charge  of  her. 


64 


THE  TURKEY  vSCARE. 

All  the  settlers  in  this  vicinity  had  come  to  Fort  Armstrong 
and  taken  quarters  there  or  in  the  stockade,  both  of  which 
were  overcrowded.  After  the  first  scare,  the  settlers  wanted 
to  go  back  to  their  farms  and  do  their  spring  planting. 
Captain  Bliss,  who  commanded  at  the  fort,  yielded  to  their 
request,  and  arranged  with  them  a  signal  of  alarm  in  case 
they  or  any  of  them  should  be  attacked,  or  were  in  imminent 
danger  of  an  attack,  which  signal  was  that  they  should  "  fire 
off  a  gun."  When  such  gun  was  fired,  every  one  should  flee 
to  the  Island.  April  7  Joshua  Vandruff  and  Hackley  Samms, 
while  crossing  Vandruff  island,  saw  a  flock  of  wild  turkeys. 
They  could  not  resist  the  temptation  and,  creeping  within 
range,  fired  their  guns  at  the  flock,  each  man  bringing  down 
his  bird.  The  noise  of  the  two  guns  could  be  heard  all  over 
the  settlement  and  it  caused  the  greatest  excitement,  filling 
the  hearts  of  the  settlers  with  terror.  Mothers  caught  their 
children  and  fled  towards  the  fort.  Those  who  had  horses 
and  were  plowing,  hastily  unhitched  the  animals,  loaded  their 
families  upon  the  horses  and  started  towards  the  fort.  It  is 
said  some  of  the  settlers  fled  pell-mell,  leaving  their  families 
to  take  care  of  themselves.  Vandruff  and  Samms  soon 
realized  their  mistake,  especially  Joshua,  when  he  encountered 
his  wife  and  their  ten  children  running  towards  the  fort. 
When  the  settlers  reached  the  Mississippi  they  crowded  the 
few  skiffs  tied  to  the  shore  and  some  came  near  being 
drowned.  Captain  Bliss  had  heard  the  gunshots  and  hastily 
called  together  a  company  of  his  regulars  and  started  to  meet 
the  Indians,  while  Phil  Kearney,  who  was  left  in  command  of 
the  fort,  began  preparing  it  for  a  siege.  Bliss  and  his  men 
got  nearly  to  Rock  River  when  they  met  Vandruff  and 
Samms  running  after  the  fleeing  settlers  trying  to  explain  the 
mistake.  When  these  two  told  the  captain  "how  it  hap- 
pened," it  is  said  the  air  became  impregnated  with  sulphur 
so  loud  and  vehemently  did  that  warrior  swear.  For  many 
years  afterwards  the  ' '  turkey  scare  ' '  was  a  tender  .spot  with 
\'andruff  and  Samms. 


65 


BLACK  HAWK  STARTS. 

The  6th  of  April,  1832,  Black  Hawk,  with  about  1,000 
Indians,  including  warriors,  women,  old  men  and  children, 
together  with  all  their  possessions,  crossed  the  Mississippi  at 
Yellow  Banks  (O(iuawka)  and  leisurely  proceeded  up  the  east 
bank  of  the  river  to  Rock  River  and  thence  up  that  river  to 
his  old  \illage  where  he  camped  the  night  of  April  12.  The 
next  morning  he  started  for  the  Prophet's  village  with  the 
intention,  as  he  said,  "  to  make  corn."  There  is  and  always 
has  been  a  question  whether  Black  Hawk,  when  he  crossed 
the  Mississippi  River  and  invaded  Illinois  in  1832,  intended 
attacking  the  Americans,  or  whether  he  intended  going  to  the 
Prophet's  village  merely  to  raise  a  crop.  If  he  wanted  merely 
to  raise  a  crop  he  could  have  done  that  as  easily  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Des  Moines  River  as  at  Prophetstown .  From  Black 
Hawk's  biography  we  learn  that  the  trip  to  Prophetstown 
was  part  of  his  plan  to  again  get  control  of  the  site  of  his 
ancient  village  and  his  cornfields.  He  tells  us  that  while  at 
the  Des  Moines  ' '  I  concluded  that  I  had  better  keep  my  band 
together,  and  recruit  as  many  more  as  possible,  so  that  I 
would  be  prepared  to  make  the  attempt  to  rescue  my  village 
in  the  spring."  He  then,  as  he  says,  "  tried  to  recruit  braves 
from  Keokuk's  band,"  and  "  requested  my  people  to  rendez- 
vous at  that  place,  and  sent  out  soldiers  to  bring  in  the 
warriors,  and  stationed  my  sentinels  in  a  position  to  prevent 
any  from  moving  up  until  all  were  ready." 

The  taking  with  him  his  women,  children  and  old  men 
would  indicate  that  he  did  not  on  that  trip  contemplate  war, 
as  no  Indian  war  party  ever  carries  with  it  the  women  or 
children.  Black  Hawk  undoubtedly  intended  taking  his 
women  and  children  to  the  Prophet's  village,  there  to  leave 
them  to  make  a  crop',  and  during  the  summer  continue  his 
recruiting  and  possibly  in  the  fall  make  his  attack  upon  the 
Americans.  For  had  he  intended  going  to  war  at  once  he 
would  have  stopped  at  his  village  and  there  made  his 
defense. 

At  Yellowbanks  the  Prophet  had  met  Black  Hawk,  and 
made  a  talk  to  his  braves,  telling  them  "that  as  long  as 
they  were  peaceable  the  Americans  would  not   dare   molest 

66 


them.  That  we  were  not  yet  ready  to  act  otherwise.  We 
must  wait  until  we  ascend  Rock  River  and  receive  our 
reinforcements  and  we  will  then  be  able  to  withstand  an 
army." 

GENERAL  ATKINSON  COMES  TO  FORT 
ARMSTRONG. 

June  31,  1831,  a  w^ar  party  of  nearly  100  Sacs  and  Foxes 
had  attacked  a  camp  of  Menominees  situated  about  one  half 
a  mile  about  Fort  Crawford  at  Prairie  du  Chien  and  killed 
twenty-five.  Black  Hawk  says  the  killed  were  Sioux  and 
Menominees.  Between  the  former  and  the  Sacs  and  Foxes 
there  had  always  been  a  bitter  and  hostile  feeling.  April  1, 
General  Henry  Atkinson,  then  commanding  Jefferson  Bar- 
racks at  St.  Louis,  received  orders  to  proceed  up  the  Missis- 
sippi and  demand  from  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  the  principals 
engaged  in  the  murder  of  the  Menominees.  Atkinson  left  St. 
Louis  April  8,  with  six  companies  of  the  Sixth  Regiment,  220 
men  accompanying  the  expedition.  Albert  Sidney  Johnson, 
afterwards  a  Confederate  general,  was  a  second  lieutenant  in 
this  command. 

April  10,  Atkinson's  army  reached  the  Des  Moines  rapids, 
where  they  were  informed  that  Black  Hawk  and  his  warriors 
were  marching  up  the  river.  The  army  now  hastened  to  Fort 
Armstrong,  arriving  there  the  night  of  the  I2th.  The  13th, 
General  Atkinson  called  the  Indians  then  in  that  vicinity  to 
the  fort.  Among  those  who  came  were  Keokuk  and  Wapello. 
Atkinson  demanded  the  murderers  of  the  Menominees  and 
these  two  disclaimed  any  part  in  that  affair.  General  Atkin- 
son then  started  for  Fort  Crawford  and  also  sent  out  mes- 
sengers to  warn  the  settlers  of  Black  Hawk's  coming.  On 
the  19th  of  the  month  General  Atkinson  returned  to  Fort 
Armstrong.  Accompanying  him  was  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Zachary  Taylor,  afterwards  President  of  the  United  States, 
and  two  companies  of  the  First  Infantry.  Before  leaving  Fort 
Armstrong,  General  Atkinson  had  sent  a  letter  to  Governor 
Reynolds  asking  for  state  aid. 

After  Black  Hawk  passed  his  old  village.  General  Atkinson 
sent  Captain  Phil    Kearney  up   Rock   River  after   him,   with 

67 


orders  for  Black  Hawk  to  return  and  recross  the  Mississippi, 
which  order  Black  Hawk  refused  to  obey,  claiming  his  mis- 
sion was  a  peaceful  one. 

The  news  that  Black  Hawk  and  his  warriors  were  again 
marching  up  Rock  River  alarmed  the  whole  northern  frontier 
and  the  Governor  daily  received  messages  and  messengers. 
George  Davenport,  the  Indian  trader  on  Rock  Island,  had 
before  General  Gaines'  arrival  written  him  ;  ' '  From  every 
information  I  have  received,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the 
intention  of  the  British  band  of  Sac  Indians  is  to  commit 
depredations  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  frontier." 


THE  GOVERNOR'S  PROCLAMATION. 

April  16  Go\ernor  Reynolds  received  General  Atkinson's 
letter,  asking  the  assistance  of  the  state  militia.  Promptly 
on  the  same  day  the  Governor  issued  the  following  pro- 
clamation : 


"TO  THE  MILITIA  OF  THE  NORTHWESTERN 
SECTION  OF  THE  STATE. 

Fellow  Citizens : 

"  Your  country  requires  j-our  services.  The  Indians  have 
a.ssumed  a  hostile  attitude  and  have  invaded  the  state  in  vio- 
lation of  the  treaty  of  last  summer.  The  British  band  of  Sacs 
and  other  hostile  Indians,  headed  by  Black  Hawk,  are  in 
possession  of  the  Rock  River  countrj'  to  the  great  terror  of 
the  frontier  inhabitants.  I  consider  the  settlers  on  the 
frontier  to  be  in  imminent  danger.  I  am  in  possession  of  the 
above  information  from  gentlemen  of  respectable  standing, 
and  also  from  General  Atkinson,  whose  character  stands  high 
with  all  classes.  In  possession  of  the  above  facts  and  infor- 
mation, I  have  not  hesitated  as  to  the  course  I  should  pursue. 
No  citizen  ought  to  remain  inactive  when  his  country  is 
invaded,  and  the  helpless  part  of  the  community  are  in  dan- 
ger. I  have  called  out  a  strong  detachment  of  militia  to 
rendezvous  at  Beard.stown  on  the  22d  inst.  Provisions  for  the 
men  and  food  for  the  horses  will  be  furnished  in  abundance. 

68 


I  hope  my  countr3inen  will  realize  my  expectations  and  offer 
their  services,  as  heretofore,  with  promptitude  and  cheerful- 
ness, ill  defence  of  their  country." 


The  season  was  wet  and  backward,  and  the  farmers  had 
been  delayed  in  their  work  but,  as  in  the  year  1831,  volun- 
teers were  eager  and  willing  to  offer  their  ser\nces,  many  of 
the  most  influential  men  in  the  state  enlisting  and  many  who 
neither  had  horses  or  could  procure  them  marching  on  foot. 

April  27  the  militia  left  Rushville  and  marched  to  Yellow 
Banks  (Oquawka)  from  whence  they  marched  up  the  Missis- 
sippi to  the  mouth  of  Rock  River  which  they  reached  May  7. 
General  Atkinson  mustered  the  troops  into  the  service  of  the 
United  States,  and  May  9  they  commenced  their  march  up  Rock 
River.  Before  marching  Governor  Reynolds  engaged  the 
services  of  Thomas  Kenney,  a  Rock  Island  settler  as  a  guide, 
Mr.  Kenney  being  able  to  understand  a  little  of  the  Sac 
language.  In  the  march  up  the  river  General  Whiteside  with 
part  of  the  army  marched  on  the  east  bank  while  the  rest  of 
the  army,  under  General  Atkin.son,  came  up  the  river  in  flat 
boats . 


69 


A  ROCK  ISLAND  COMPANY. 

It  seems  the  martial  spirit  of  the  citizens  of  Rock  Island 
County  was  not  stilled  or  satisfied  by  the  march  of  the  Rock 
River  Rangers  in  1831  from  Fort  Armstrong  to  the  Watch 
Tower,  for  in  1832  we  find  one  company  enrolled  in  the  ser- 
vice where  every  member  save  one  was  from  Rock  Island 
Countv.  that  one  being  a  brother  of  the  captain,  and  he  came 
from  Adams  County  to  enlist  under  his  brother.  The  follow- 
ing is  from  the  rolls  as  corrected  and  now  on  file  in  the  War 
Department  at  Washington  : 


Name  and  Rank 

Residence 

Enrolled 

Remarks 

CAPTAIN 

1832 

John  W.  Kenney  — 

Rock  Island  Co. 

May  20 

FIRST    LIEUTEX.VXT 

Joseph  Dan  forth 

Rock  Island  Co. 

May  20 

PRIV.VTES 

Davis,  Thomas 

Rock  Island  Co. 

May  20 

Danforth,  Manly.  .  . . 

Rock  Island  Co. 

Julv  1 

Danforth,  Samuel  . . . 

Rock  Island  Co. 

Ma\-  20 

Kenney,  Samuel  .... 

Rock  Island  Co. 

Mav  20 

On  Furlough 

Kenney,  Thomas. . . . 

Adams  Co 

June  12 

McGee,Gentrv 

Rock  Island  Co. 

May  20 

McXeal,   Henn-   .... 

Rock  Island  Co. 

Mav  20 

McNeal,  Neel   

Rock  Island  Co. 

July  1 

Maskal,   Tames 

Rock  Island  Co. 

May  20 

Smith,  Martin 

Rock  Island  Co. 

Mav  20 

Samms,  William  H.  . 

Rock  Island  Co. 

July  1 

Thompson,  Joel  . .  . . 

Rock  Island  Co. 

May  20 

Thompson,  William  . 

Rock  Island  Co. 

May  20 

Wells,  Ira 

Rock  Island  Co. 
Rock  Island  Co. 
Rock  Island  Co. 

May  20 
May  20 
May  20 

Wells,  Eri 

Wells,  Asaph 

Wells,  Nelson 

Rock  Island  Co. 

May  20 

Wells,  Rannah 

Rock  Island  Co. 

Mav  20 

Wells,  Toel,  Jr 

Rock  Island  Co. 

May  20 

Wells,  Joel,  Sr 

Rock  Island  Co. 

May  20 

Wells,  Luke,  Sr 

Rock  Island  Co. 

May  20 

70 


This  company  was  part  of  an  odd  mounted  battalion,  com- 
manded by  Major  Samuel  Bogart,  and  was  called  into  the 
service  of  the  United  States  on  the  requisition  of  General 
Atkinson,  by  the  Governor's  proclamation  dated  May  20, 
1832.     It  was  mustered  out  September  4,  1832  a-t  Macomb. 

The  companies  composing  this  odd  battalion  were  Captains 
Peter  Butter's  of  Warren  County,  John  W.  Kenney's  of  Rock 
Island  County,  James  White  of  Hancock  County,  John  Sain's 
of  Fulton  County,  William  McMurty's  of  Knox  County  and 
Asel  F.  Ball's  of  Fulton  County.  It  is  impossible  to  learn 
just  what  duty  the  battalion  did  to  which  the  Rock  Island 
company  was  assigned .  Reynolds  in  ' '  My  Own  Times  ' ' 
says:  "On  the  12th  of  June  I  ordered  a  battalion  to  be 
organized  and  to  elect  their  officers,  to  guard  the  frontiers 
between  the  Mississippi  and  Peoria  on  the  north  of  Illinois 
River.     Samuel  Bogart  was  elected  major  of  the  battalion." 

After  being  mustered  into  the  service  at  Fort  Armstrong, 
the  Rock  Island  compan\  joined  Colonel  Moore's  regiment 
which  had  been  recruited  in  \'ermilion  and  neighboring 
counties,  and  marched  up  Rock  River  to  Dixon.  From  there 
it  was  assigned  to  guard  duty  on  the  frontier.  From  another 
authority  I  learn  that  it  did  guard  duty  on  the  frontier,  drew 
its  rations  daily,  ate  heartily,  played  euchre  and  received  the 
remunerative  stun  of  86  cents  per  day  for  each  man  and  his 
horse.  Samuel  Bogart,  the  major  of  the  odd  battalion  to 
which  Kenney's  company  was  attached,  was  before  enlist- 
ment a  merchant  in  McUonough  County. 


71 


OTHER  ROCK  ISLAND  SOLDIERS. 

Rock  Island  County  furnished  more  soldiers  than  those 
given  in  Captain  John  \V.  Kenney's  company.  I  have  been 
able  to  trace,  but  few  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  rolls  are  by 
no  means  complete.  A  large  number  joined  the  state  militia 
and  were  never  sworn  into  the  United  States  service,  con- 
sequently no  record  was  kept  and  their  names  will  remain 
forever  unknown.  I  have  frequently  heard  certain  of  our  old 
citizens  claim  to  have  been  in  the  Black  Hawk  War,  and  have 
made  diligent  search  for  their  names.  I  give  in  this  sketch 
only  such  names  as  appear  on  record  in  the  reports  of  the 
War  Department. 

All  enlistments  were  from  twenty  to  thirty  days  and  a 
great  many  enlisted  in  another  company  on  the  same  day  that 
their  term  of  enlistment  in  one  company  expired. 


ROSWELL  H.  SPENCER. 

Roswell  H.  Spencer  was  a  brother  of  Judge  John  W.  Spen- 
cer and  was  one  of  the  very  early  settlers.  He  seems  to  have 
been  an  ardent  patriot,  having  three  enlistments  to  his  credit, 
serving  out  each  enlistment,  and  upon  his  term  of  service 
expiring  again  enlisting  in  a  new  company.  He  enlisted 
first  in  Captain  Thomas  Carlin's  company  which  belonged  to 
what  was  known  as  the  spy  battalion.  He  was  enrolled  May 
10  at  Rock  Island,  and  mustered  out  May  27  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Fox  River.  He  again  enlisted  May  27,  1832,  in  Captain 
A.  W.  Snyder's  company  and  was  mustered  out  of  .service 
June  21,  at  Dixon's  Fern-  on  Rock  River.  The  same  day  we 
find  him  again  enlisting  in  Captain  Jacob  M.  Early's  com- 
pany and  he  was  mustered  out  on  White  Water  River  on 
Rock  River,  July  10,  1832,  by  order  of  Brigadier  General 
Atkinson,  U.  S.  Army.  This  was  one  of  the  companies  in 
which  Abraham  Lincoln  served  as  a  private. 


72 


AT  KEIJ.OGG'S  GROVE. 

After  Stillnian's  defeat,  Captain  Snyder's  company  was 
sent  to  Galena,  whence  it  went  to  Kellogg's  Grove,  where 
were  several  log  houses  that  the  company  used  for  their  quar- 
ters. The  night  of  June  15  several  Indians  were  seen  lurking 
around,  one  of  the  sentinels  having  an  encounter  with  one. 
The  morning  of  the  16th,  Captain  Snyder  marched  his  com- 
pany in  pursuit  of  the  Indians.  For  twenty  miles  they 
followed  a  circuitous  trail  which  brought  them  almost  back  to 
their  starting  place.  Here  four  Indians  were  seen,  and  Sny- 
der's company  commenced  the  attack ;  all  the  Indians  were 
killed,  and  one  of  Snyder's  men.  On  their  return  to  the 
block  hotises  they  were  fired  on  by  a  large  body  of  Indians, 
and  two  more  of  the  company  were  killed.  Snyder's  com- 
pany now  entered  into  a  general  engagement  and  after  several 
hours  of  battle  the  Indians  withdrew.  The  lo.ss  to  Snyder's 
companj'  was  three  killed  and  several  wounded.  With  Spen- 
cer in  this  battle  were  Lucius  and  John  Wells  of  this  county. 
Serving  as  privates  in  this  company  were  Joseph  Gillespie, 
Pierre  Menard,  Richard  Roman,  James  Semple,  General 
Samuel  Whiteside  and  other  distinguished  men.  Stephenson 
County  has  erected  on  the  battle  ground  a  fitting  memorial  to 
mark  the  spot. 


THE  WELLS  FAMILY. 

The  Wells  family  seems  to  have  been  a  family  of  fighters. 
We  find  eleven  of  them  enrolled  in  the  company  of  Rock 
River  Rangers  in  1831,  and  in  1832  we  find  eight  of  these 
enrolled  in  Captain  Kenney's  company.  Lucius  Wells  and 
John  Wells  were  with  Spencer  in  Captain  A.  W.  vSnyder's 
company  and  were  present  and  participated  in  the  battle  of 
Kellogg's  Grove.  Samuel  Wells  was  also  a  member  of  Cap- 
tain Seth  Pratt's  company  of  Illinois  \'olunteer  Militia, 
.stationed  at  Fort  Arni.strong,  in  the  .service  of  the  United 
States  from  April  21  to  June  3,  1832. 


73 


REDDISH,  THE  TUNNELS  AND  EAMES. 

In  Captain  Thomas  Carlin's  company  we  find  enrolled  with 
Roswell  H.  Spencer,  John  Reddish,  who  enlisted  at  Rock 
Island  May  10  ;  Luther  Tunnel  and  William  Tunnel,  who 
were  also  enrolled  that  day.  The  records  show  that  the  night 
of  May  22  Luther  Tunnel  lost  his  horse,  account  "affright  of 
horses,"  there  being  a  stampede  that  night.  This  company 
was  part  of  an  odd  battalion  of  spies,  commanded  by  Major 
D.  Henry  of  the  brigade  of  mounted  volunteers  commanded 
by  Brigadier  General  Samuel  Whiteside.  It  was  mustered  out 
of  the  service  of  the  United  States  at  the  mouth  of  Fox  River 
on  the  Illinois  River  May  27,  1832,  and  as  the  company  was 
originally  mustered  in  at  Carrolton,  the  men  were  discharged 
two  hundred  and  thirt}'  miles  from  the  place  of  their  enroll- 
ment. 

John  Reddish  was  also  in  Captain  Samuel  Smith's  com- 
pany, serving  from  May  27  to  June  15. 

Charles  Eames,  who  was  sheriff  of  this  county  from  1837  to 
1839,  was  a  member  of  Captain  Enoch  Duncan's  company  of 
Mounted  Riflemen,  commanded  by  Colonel  H.  Dodge.  He 
enlisted  in  company  with  his  brother  Maj'  19,  1832.  He  was 
mustered  out  of  the  service  September  14,  by  Lieutenant  J. 
R.  Gardiner,  U.  S.  Army,  by  order  of  Brigadier  General 
Gardiner,  U.  S.  Army,  by  order  of  Brigadier  General  H. 
Atkinson. 


74 


CAPTAIN  SRTH  PRATT'S  COMPANY. 


I  find  a  company  of  Illinois  volunteer  militia  was  stationed 
at  Fort  Armstrong  and  was  in  the  service  of  the  United  States 
from  April  21  to  June  3,  1832,  when  it  was  mustered  out. 
This  company  did  garrison  duty.  The  records  say  it  was 
composed  of  men  from  Rock  Island  and  adjacent  counties, 
but  I  have  been  unable  to  place  but  one,  he  being  Samuel 
Wells.     The  roster  of  the  company  is  : 

Captaiti :     Seth  Pratt. 

Lieutenants:     John  M.  Crabtree,  Joseph  Leister. 

Sergeants:  Simpson  Stewart,  William  B.  Sisk,  Elihu  Sparks,  Abra- 
ham Crabtree. 

Corporals :  James  Stockton,  George  Yates,  James  Keller,  James 
Curry,  Thomas  Burton. 

Fifer :     James  Carr. 


Gordon  Acton 
Nathan  Bradbury 
Henry  Brantl_v 
C.  Birdwell 
Isaac  Booth 
Daniel  Brock 
Amos  Bradlej- 
John  Bradshaw 
John  M.  Bohvare 
Henry  Castlebury 
Stephen  L.  Cooper 
John  Davis 
Samuel  Smith 


PRIVATES 
Henry  Ford 
William  Foster 
Isaac  Gulliher 
Parnell  Hamilton 
Harrison  Hunly 
William  Hopper 
Alfred  Jackson 
Jonathan  Leighton 
Nicholas  Long 
James  M.  Low 
Iredell  Lawrence 
Martin  Langston 
Samuel  Wells 


Larkin  B.  Langston 
John  Letcher 
Henry  Melton 
Francis  McConnell 
Frederick  McDanial 
James  New 
Wm.  C.  Over,street 
John  Pervine 
William  Pointer 
Jonathan  Russ 
Andrew  Smothers 
Isaac  Schnuck 


Benjamin  Gohel  in  his  reminiscenses  speaks  of  joining  a 
company  and  doing  guard  duty  at  the  fort,  but  I  do  not  find 
his  name  on  the  roster. 

At  the  commencement  of  hostilities.  Governor  Edwards  of 
Illinois  appointed  George  Davenport  one  of  the  quarter- 
masters, his  commission  giving  him  the  rank  of  colonel. 


75 


THK  END  OF  THP:  WAR. 

The  march  of  the  army  up  Rock  River,  the  defeat  of  Major 
Stilhnaii's  command,  the  Indian  Creek  massacre,  the  battle 
on  the  Pecatonica,  attack  on  Apple  River  Fort,  at  Kellogg' s 
Grove,  and  other  minor  skirmishes  fast  followed  one  another, 
but  as  none  of  these  are  connected  with  Rock  Island  County, 
I  leave  to  the  reader  the  pleasure  of  reading  the  histories  of 
the  Black  Hawk  War. 

The  r<^.  of  August.  1832,  the  slaughter  of  the  Sacs  on  the 
Mississippi  at  the  mouth  of  the  Bad-Axe  virtually  ended 
the  Black  Hawk  War.  Reynolds  in  referring  to  this  final 
engagement  says  :  ' '  Although  the  warriors  fought  with  the 
courage  and  valor  of  desperation,  yet  the  conflict  resembled 
more  a  carnage  than  a  regular  battle."  Another  noted  author- 
ity calls  it  "a  dishonorable  chapter  in  the  history  of  the 
borders."  Out  of  the  band  of  nearly  one  thousand  Indians 
who  crossed  the  Mississippi  at  Yellow  Banks  in  April,  not 
more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  lived  to  tell  the  story.  The 
American  loss  in  this  war  was  about  two  hundred  and  fifty. 
The  financial  cost  to  the  government  and  the  State  of  Illinois 
was  nearly  52,000,000. 

On  the  t7th  of  August  the  captured  Black  Hawk  was 
delivered  to  the  Americans  by  two  Winnebagoes.  He  was 
kept  that  winter  at  Jefferson  Barracks  and  in  April,  1833, 
was  sent  as  a  prisoner  to  Fortress  Monroe  where  he  was  con- 
fined until  June  4,  when  he  was  discharged.  After  visiting 
the  principal  cities  in  the  east  he  returned  west,  locating  on  a 
small  reservation  on  the  Des  Moines  River  in  Davis  Count\-, 
Iowa,  where  he  died  October  3,  1838.  The  following  year 
his  remains  were  stolen,  and  in  the  spring  of  1840  Governor 
L,ucas  succeeded  in  recovering  them  and  caused  the  skeleton 
to  be  delivered  at  the  then  capitol  at  Burlington.  When  the 
capitol  was  removed  to  Iowa  City,  the  remains  were  taken 
there.     January  16,  1855,  they  were  destroyed  by  fire. 

The  final  treaty  was  concluded  September  21,  1832.  The 
treaty  says:  "Concluded  at  Fort  Armstrong,"  but  in  con- 
sequence of  cholera  then  raging  at  the  fort,  the  treatj^  was 
held  on  the  Wisconsin  side  of  the  Mississippi,  now  the  State 
of  Iowa.     It  was  signed  on  the  spot  of  ground  upon  which 

76 


Antoiiie  LeClaire's  residence  was  built  and  the  site  has 
been  appropriate!}'  marked  by  a  monument  erected  by  the 
Davenport  Chapter,  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution. 
Among  the  witnesses  to  this  treaty  were  "  Antoine  LeClaire, 
interpreter :  Benjamin  F.  Pike,  John  W.  Spencer  and 
George  Davenport,  Assistant  Quarter  Master  General 
Illinois  Militia." 

Black  Hawk  has  been  greatly  censured  and  abused,  and,  by 
some  few,  praised.  We  can  better  judge  him  today  than  could 
those  whose  interests  and  sympathies  during  the  times  from 
1828  to  1832  may  have  been  of  a  personal  nature. 

At  the  time  of  the  Black  Hawk  War  in  1832,  Black  Hawk 
was  sixtN'-five  years  old.  After  losing  his  village  and  lands, 
after  defeat  in  war,  when  but  few  of  his  people  had  escaped 
the  white  man's  bullet,  after  being  held  a  prisoner  for  some 
months,  and  upon  his  release  and  restoration  to  freedom,  this 
savage  who  fought  for  his  country  said  to  one  of  his  con- 
querors :  "Rock  River  was  a  beautiful  country'.  I  like 
my  towns,  my  cornfields  and  the  home  of  my  people.  I 
fought  for  it ;  it  is  now  yours.  It  will  produce  you  good 
crops."  What  white  man  could  say  more?  Black  Hawk 
was  truly  the  last  defender  of  Illinois. 

It  was  not  my  intention  to  enter  into  a  detailed  account  of 
the  Black  Hawk  War.  My  aim  was  to  put  together  as  many 
of  the  facts  regarding  that  war  as  were  of  local  interest  and 
try  to  give  to  Rock  Island  County  and  her  citizens  such 
credit  as  is  their  due  for  the  part  they  took  in  that  affair. 


77 


ROCK  ISLAND  SETTLERS  IN  1832. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  settlers  of  this  county,  as  com- 
plete as  I  have  been  able  to  make  from  the  data  that  I  have 
found,  in  the  spring  of  1832.  Just  previous  to  the  breaking 
out  of  the  war  in  1832,  there  was  quite  an  increase  of  set- 
tlers, many  of  whom  left.  Some  stayed  during  the  war  and 
then  left  and  I  have  not  been  able  to  learn  their  names. 


Au'jury,  Griffith 
Allen,  Archibald 
Bain,  John  L. 
Barrel,  John 
Bartlett,  Michael 
Burner,  Edward 
Brasher,  William  T. 
Benson,  Henry 
Been,  Joseph 
Br\-ant,  Leonard 
Case,  Jonah  H. 
Case,  Louden,  Sr. 
Case,  Louden,  Jr. 
Case,  Charles  H. 
Cook,  Horace 
Clark,  B.  W. 
Corbin,  Edward 
Carr,  William 
Culver,  Martin 
Danforth,  Manly 
Danforth,  Joseph 
Davis,  Thomas 
Dance,  Russel 
Davenport,  George 
Davidson,  Thomas 
Frith,  Isaiah 
French,  Charles 
Farnham,  Russel 
Gardiner,  Thomas 
Goble,  Benjamin 
Gouqu}-,  Antoine 


Graft,  John 
Haskill,  James 
Harlan,  George  W. 
Hultz,  Uriah  .S. 
Hubbard,  Thomas 
Hubbard,  Goodridge 
Henderson,  Cyrus 
Hail,  David  B. 
Henry,  William 
Heans,  William 
Hulls,  M.  S. 
Haney,  - — ■ — - 
Johnson,  Moses 
Kinney,  John  W. 
Kinney,  Sanmel 
Kinney,  Tliomas 
Kent,  Erastus 
Lovitt,  Thomas 
McCoy,  Joseph 
McNeil,  Henry 
Miller,  George  V. 
McGee,  Gentry 
McNeil,  Neel 
Maskal,  James 
Noble,  Ames  C. 
Pence,  Judge 
Pike,  Benjamin 
Reddish,  John 
S_vms,  Thomas 
Syms,  Robert 


Sams,  William  F. 
Smith,  Martin  W. 
Stringfield,  Sevier 
Smart,  Josiah 
Sampson,  H. 
Spencer,  John  W. 
Spencer,  Roswell  H. 
Thompson,  William 
Thompson,  Joel 
Tunnell,  Luther 
Tunnell,  William 
Vandruff,  Joshua 
Vandruff,  Henry 
Vandruff,  Samuel 
Vanetta,  Benjamin 
Vanetta,  Gorham 
Varner,  Edward 
Wells,  Levi 
Wells,  George 
Wells,  Joel,  Sr. 
Wells,  Joel,  Jr. 
Wells,  Huntington 
Wells,  John 
Wells,  Samuel 
Wells,  Rinnah 
Wells,  Asaph 
Wells,  Eri 
Wells,  Ira 
Wells,  Nelson 
Wells,  Lucius 


The  Kinneys  above  mentioned   are  the  same  whose  names 
in  the  roster  of  the  War  Department  are  given  as  Kenney. 


78 


BLACK    HAWK. 


Part  IV 

Fort  Armstrong — Its  Erection  in  iSi6,  Attempted 
Capture,  Roster  of  its  Commandants,  The  Powder 
Plot,  As  it  Appeared  in  1S29,  The  Burning  of  the 
Fort  in  1 85  5. 


Part  IV 


FORT  ARMSTRONG. 

The  treaty  of  Ghent,  December  24,  1814,  ended  the  war  of 
1812,  but  the  failure  of  the  American  arms  on  the  Upper 
Mississippi,  the  defeat  and  disaster  of  our  three  river  expedi- 
tions by  the  Indians  in  that  year,  spread  a  feeling  of  gloom 
and  uncertainty  over  all  the  settlers  in  the  then  northwest 
country.  The  Pre-emption  Act  of  Congress,  however,  had 
the  effect  of  causing  the  tide  of  emigration  to  set  into  Illinois. 
In  order  to  afford  our  settlers  better  protection  the  War 
Department  decided  to  erect  a  number  of  forts  on  the  Upper 
Mississippi,  at  such  points  where  they  would  prove  the  most 
serviceable. 

In  his  letter  dated  September  5,  1805,  to  General  James 
Wilkinson,  Lieutenant  Pike  says:  "I  have  chosen  three 
places  for  military  establishments."  None  of  these,  however, 
was  on  the  island  of  Rock  Island .  Yet  Pike  describes  the  site 
of  Fort  Armstrong  as  one  that  is  suitable,  if  objection  is 
made  to  the  one  chosen  being  on  the  west  side  of  the  river, 
and  says  there  is  "  no  water  but  that  of  the  Mississippi." 

Duritig  the  war  of  1812  the  country  around  the  mouth  of 
Rock  River  had  been  the  seat  of  most  of  the  Indian  trouble. 
Here  was  the  leader  of  the  Indians  in  this  section  of  the 
country,  and  here  was  the  largest  Indian  \-illage,  and  its 
inhabitants  were  unfriendly  to  the  Americans. 

In  September,  1815,  the  Eighth  United  States  Infantry,  un- 
der command  of  Colonel  R.  C.  Nichols,  left  St.  Louis  for  the 
upper  river  to  locate  and  build  a  fort  somewhere  near  the 
mouth  of  Rock  River  in  the  then  Indian  country,  so  that 
white  settlers  might  have  protection  from  the  numerous  tribes 
who  had,  previous  to  this,  been  incited  against  the  Americans 
b.\-  the  British  soldiers  and  traders.     In  November  the  expedi- 

81 


tion  had  only  reached  the  Des  Moines  River,  where  it  went 
into  winter  quarters.  During  the  winter  Colonel  Nichols  was 
placed  under  arrest  and  Brevet  Lieutenant  Colonel  William 
Lawrence,  major  of  the  regiment,  was  placed  in  charge.  In 
April,  1816,  Brevet  Brigadier  General  Thomas  A.  Smith,  colo- 
nel of  the  rifle  regiment,  arrived  with  his  regiment  and  took 
command.  The  expedition  proceeded  up  the  river,  arriving 
at  the  mouth  of  Rock  River  early  in  May.  The  foot  of 
the  island  of  Rock  Island  was  selected  as  the  site  for  the  fort 
and  May  10  the  troops  were  landed  on  the  island  and  set  to 
work  cutting  trees  and  quarrying  rock.  General  Smith 
remained  on  the  island  only  until  proper  shelter,  protection 
and  defense  had  been  prepared  for  the  troops  and  then  with 
his  rifle  regiment  went  up  the  river  to  Prairie  du  Chien. 
Before  leaving  General  Smith  sent  a  messenger  to  the  Sacs 
and  Foxes  at  their  village  on  Rock  River  inviting  them  to  a 
council,  but  they  refused  to  come. 

The  Eighth  Infantry  under  Colonel  Lawrence  proceeded 
with  the  construction  of  the  fort  which,  when  completed,  was 
named  Fort  Armstrong,  in  honor  of  General  John  Armstrong, 
then  Secretary  of  War.  The  fort  was  400  feet  square,  the 
lower  half  of  the  walls  being  of  stone  and  the  upper  half  of 
hewn  logs.  At  the  northeast,  southeast  and  southwest 
angles  block  houses  were  built.  The  fort  was  at  the  extreme 
northwest  angle,  the  corner  of  the  fort  being  about  200  feet 
from  the  island  end  of  the  present  bridge. 

About  the  time  the  fort  was  completed  the  Indians  began 
crossing  to  the  island  and  would  watch  the  soldiers  in  its  con- 
struction. They  would  often  sing  and  go  through  some  of 
their  dances  to  amuse  the  soldiers,  and  the  latter  began  to 
think  that  the  Indians  were  peaceful.  The  Hon.  Bailey 
Davenport  described  an  incident  during  this  time  that  shows 
that  the  Indians  had  not  become  reconciled  to  the  erecting  of 
the  fort.  He  said:  "One  day  a  small  party  came  over  to 
dance,  and  after  the  dance  the  colonel  in  command  gave  them 
presents.  In  a  few  days  after,  and  while  a  large  number  of 
soldiers  were  out  cutting  timber,  a  large  party  of  warriors, 
headed  by  the  Ne-ka-le-quat,  came  over  in  canoes  and  landed 
on  the  north  side  of  the  island,  and  danced  up  to  the  entrance 
of  the  encampment,  and  wanted  to  enter  and  dance  in  front  of 

82 


the  commander's  tent.  About  tlie  same  time  a  large  party 
of  warriors  was  discov-ered  approaching  over  the  ridge  from 
the  south  side  of  the  island,  headed  by  Keokuk.  The  colonel 
immediately  ordered  the  bugle  sounded  to  recall  the  soldiers 
from  the  woods,  and  had  all  under  arms  (about  600)  and 
the  cannon  run  out  in  front  of  the  entrance,  ready  to  fire. 
The  Indians  were  ordered  not  to  approach  any  nearer.  The 
colonel,  taking  the  alarm  before  Keokuk's  party  got  near 
enough  to  rush  in,  saved  the  encampment  from  surprise  and 
massacre." 

Black  Hawk  does  not  mention  this.  In  speaking  of  the 
building  of  the  fort  he  said,  "We  did  not,  however,  try  to 
prevent  their  building  the  fort  on  the  island,  but  we  were 
verj-  sorry,  as  this  was  the  best  island  on  the  Mississippi,  and 
had  long  been  the  resort  of  our  young  people  during  the  sum- 
mer. It  was  our  garden  (like  the  white  people  have  near 
their  big  villages),  which  supplied  us  with  strawberries, 
blackberries,  plums,  apples,  and  nuts  of  various  kinds  ;  and 
its  waters  supplied  us  with  pure  fish,  being  situated  in  the 
rapids  of  the  river.  In  my  early  life  I  spent  many  happy 
days  on  this  island." 


83 


ROSTER  AT  THE  FORT. 

The  officers  and  troops  stationed  at  Fort  Armstrong  from 
August,  1819  (first  return  on  file),  until  abandoned  May  4, 
1836,  were  as  follows  ; 


Coniraanding  Officers 


To 


Lt.  Col.  Willoughbv  Morgan 
Capt.  M.  Jlarston  5th  Inf.  . 
Capt.  S.  Burbank,  5th  Inf.  . 
Maj.  J.  H.  Vose,  5th  Inf.  . 
Capt.  S.  Burbank,  5th  Inf.  . 
Maj.  J.  H.  Vose,  5th  Inf.  .  . 
Capt.  J.  Plvmpton,  5th  Inf.  . 
Maj.  S.  Burbank,  5th  Inf.  .  . 
Capt.  J.  Green,  3d  Inf.  .  .  . 
Capt.  J.  S.  Nelson,  3d  Inf.  . 
Capt.  J.  Green,  3(1  Inf.  .  .  . 
Capt.  John  Bliss,  3il  Inf.  .  . 
Capt.  T.  J.  Beall,  1st  Inf.  .  . 
Maj.  John  Bliss,  1st  Inf.  .  . 
Capt.  T.  J.  Beall,  1st  Inf.  .  . 
I.ieut.  A.  S.  Miller,  l.st  Inf.  . 
Capt.  T.  F.  Smith,  1st.  Inf.  . 
Lt.  Col.  W.  Davenport,  1st  Inf. 


1819 
Aug.,  1819  June 
June,  1821  June 
June,  1823  June 
June  4,  1825  Max- 
Ma  V  21,  1826  Oct. 
Oct.  9,  1827;Apr. 
.'Vpr.  28,  1828  Apr. 
Apr.  30,  1828|june 
June,  1828  'Aug. 
.\ug.  13,  I828ijulv 


Julv  27,  1830 
Julv  26,  1831 
.Sept.  2,  1831 
iMav    4,  183" 


Julv 
Sept 
May 
Oct 


lOct.  26,  1832! Dec 


Dec.   2,  1832 
June  8,  1833 


June 
Mav 


,  1821 
,  1823 
4,  1825 
21,  1826 
9,  1827 
28,  1828 
30, 1828 
,  1828 
13, 1828 
27,  1830 
26,  1831 
.  2,  1831 
4,  1832 
26,  1832 
2,  1832 
8,  1833 
4,  1836 


Co, 

Co. 

Cos. 

Cos. 

Cos. 

Cos. 

Cos. 

Cos. 

Cos. 

Cos. 

Cos. 

Cos. 

Cos. 

Cos. 

Cos. 

Cos. 

Cos. 


F,  .5th  Inf. 
D,  5lh  Inf. 

D  &  F,  5th   Inf. 

D  &  F,   5th   Inf. 

E  &  H,  5th  Inf. 

E&  H,  5th  Inf. 

E  &  H,  5th  Inf. 

C  i<i  G,  3d  Inf. 

C  &  G.  3d  Inf. 

C  &  G,  3d  Inf. 

D  &  H,  3d   Inf. 

C  &  K,   l.st   Inf. 

C  &  K,  1st  Inf. 

C  &  K,   1st   Inf. 

C  &  K,   1st   Inf. 

G  &  K,   1st  Inf. 

G  &  K,  1st  Inf. 


May  4,  1836,  the  fort  was  evacuated  and  the  troops  sent  to 
Fort  Snelling.  Lieutenant  Colonel  William  Davenport  was 
in  command  at  that  time  and  he  left  Lieutenant  John  Beach 
of  the  infantry  in  charge  with  a  few  men  to  take  care  of  the 
property.  The  fort  was  never  re-garrisoned.  November, 
1836,  Lieutenant  Beach  was  ordered  away  and  all  the 
property  was  removed.  From  1836  to  1838,  General  Street, 
Indian  agent,  had  charge  of  the  island,  and  he  was  succeeded 
by  Colonel  George  Davenport  who  had  been  appointed  Indian 
agent.  In  1840  some  of  the  buildings  were  repaired  and  an 
ordnance  depot  established  at  the  fort.  Captain  W.  R.  Shoe- 
maker having  charge  until  1845,  when  the  depot  was  broken 
up  and  the  goods  removed  to  St.  Louis.  Thomas  L.  Dnun 
of  Rock  Island  was  custodian  from  1845  to  1853.  Ordnance 
Sergeant  Cummings  was  in  charge  for  a  short  time  in  1853 
and  1854:  J.  B.  Danforth  from  1854  to  1857,  and  H.  Y.  Sly- 
maker  from  1857  to  1863. 

84 


THE  POWDER  PLOT. 

Be  it  truth  or  fiction  there  is  connected  with  the  historj'  of 
Fort  Armstrong  an  incident  that  to  my  mind  possesses  more 
reasons  in  favor  of  its  being  fact  than  fiction.  At  the  north 
side  of  the  lower  end  of  the  island  was  a  cave,  which  is  now 
closed.  This  cave  extended  quite  a  way  into  the  island  and 
was  directly  underneath  the  main  gate  of  the  fort,  the  eastern 
end  of  the  present  government  bridge  being  over  and  at  its 
mouth.  This  cave  was  sacred  to  the  Sacs.  Black  Hawk  said, 
"A  good  spirit  had  care  of  it  (meaning  Rock  Island),  who 
lived  in  a  cave  in  the  rocks  immediately  under  the  place 
where  the  fort  now  stands,  and  has  often  been  seen  by  our 
people.  He  was  white,  with  large  wings  like  a  swan's,  but 
ten  times  larger.  We  were  particular  not  to  make  much 
noise  in  that  part  of  the  island  which  he  inhabited  for  fear 
of  disturbing  him.  But  the  noise  of  the  fort  has  since  driven 
him  away,  and  no  doubt  a  bad  spirit  has  taken  his  place." 

After  the  Black  Hawk  War  in  1832,  some  soldiers  happen- 
ing to  enter  the  cave  found  three  kegs  of  powder  each  attached 
to  a  ftise.  No  one  seemed  to  know  how  these  things  had 
come  there,  but  after  the  war  some  Indians  had  said  that 
Black  Hawk  when  he  marched  up  Rock  River  in  April,  1832, 
stopped  overnight  at  his  old  village,  and  during  the  night  of 
April  12  he,  with  over  two  hundred  braves,  had  gone  to  the 
island,  crossing  at  the  ford  between  Rock  Island  and  Moline, 
remaining  there  nearly  all  night.  It  was  said  his  intention 
was  to  see  if  he  could  not  capture  the  fort.  Black  Hawk,  in 
his  autobiography,  does  not  mention  this  incident,  the  reason 
being  that  his  attempt  to  blow  up  the  fort  proved  a  failure. 
It  is  a  fact  that  Black  Hawk  was  on  the  island  that  night. 
Benjamin  F.  Pike,  the  captain  of  the  Rock  River  Rangers  in 
1831,  and  afterwards  sheriff  of  this  county,  together  with  two 
companions,  had  been  selected  to  do  picket  and  scout  duty 
that  night.  They  took  their  place  near  the  ford,  and  some 
time  near  midnight  saw  Black  Hawk  and  his  braves  cross  the 
slough  to  the  island.  They  at  once  ran  to  the  fort  and  to  the 
stockade  and  gave  the  warning. 

The  garrison  at  this  time  was  commanded  by  Captain  Bliss 
who  had  with   him   only  two  companies  of  infantry,   partly 

85 


full,  not  over  eighty  men.  The  stockade  around  Colonel 
Davenport's  store  was  filled  with  settlers  and  their  families 
and  was  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity.  By  an  oversight 
the  only  well  on  the  premises  had  not  been  enclosed  in  the 
stockade.  Dreading  fire  from  the  Indians'  fire  arrows,  every 
bucket,  tub  and  barrel  was  hastily  filled  with  water  and  the 
anxious  .settlers  momentarily  awaited  the  attack.  An  old 
swivel  had  been  brought  up  from  the  fort  and  this  was  loaded 
to  the  brim  and  placed  in  front  of  the  gate,  where  Sergeant 
Hanchett  of  the  garrison,  with  a  smoldering  fire  b>-  his  side, 
stood  ready  to  fire  it  off  at  the  first  approach  of  the  enemy. 
The  night  was  one  of  terror  to  the  settlers;  a  drifting  rain  and 
pelting  hail  storm  had  set  in,  and  the  occasional  claps  of 
thunder  and  flashes  of  lightning  but  added  new  alarm  to  the 
already  frightened  women  and  children.  At  about  2  o'clock 
in  the  morning  the  firing  of  cannon  was  heard  from  the  direc- 
tion of  the  fort  and  those  in  the  stockade  believed  the  attack 
had  commenced,  but  they  were  soon  apprized  that  the  firing 
was  from  the  cannon  on  board  the  steamer  Chieftain,  which 
brought  General  Atkinson  and  his  regulars  from  St.  Louis. 

It  is  said  that  when  the  people  at  the  stockade  heard  the 
firing  of  cannon  and  the  shouts  of  the  garrison  welcoming 
the  reinforcement,  they  believed  it  the  shouts  of  triumph  of 
the  Indians  at  the  capture  of  the  fort,  and  Elder  Kinney 
of  Rapids  City,  a   devout   Presbyterian,  advised  them  all  to 

unite  in  an  appeal  to  God  as  their  only  hope  of  safety  ' ' ; 
whereupon  Antoine  Gouquy,  Colonel  Davenport's  French 
servant,  said,  "  Ze  prayer  he  be  good  for  ze  vimmin  an  ze 
childer,  but  he  be  not  wort  one  cent  to  fight  ze  Injins. 
Wattair,  he  be  bettair  zan  ze  prayer." 

Black  Hawk  had  been  with  the  British  so  much  that  he 
well  knew  the  use  of  gunpowder.  He  was  in  the  attack  on 
the  fort  at  Detroit  and  undoubtedly  believed  he  could  with  a 
few  kegs  of  powder  blow  up  the  fort  at  its  gate  and  the  rock 
embankment  upon  which  it  stood,  and  then  with  his  braves 
rush  in  on  the  weak  garrison.  The  Sac  chief  knew  that  the 
fort  was  but  weakly  garrisoned.  The  Prophet  had  several 
times  attempted  to  enter  its  gate,  but  had  been  kept  out  on 
the  orders  of  Major  Bliss,  who  suspected  treachery.  The  last 
attempt  of  the  Prophet  to  enter  the  fort  was  but  a  few  days 

86 


before  Black  Hawk's  attempt  to  capture  it.  He  knew  that 
General  Atkinson  had  not  arrived  and  as  he  went  from  there 
down  the  river  and  met  Black  Hawk  and  his  band  he  certainly 
communicated  to  him  all  the  information  he  had  secured. 

Caleb  Atwater,  who  visited  the  fort  in  1829,  in  writing 
about  it  said :  ' '  Setting  down  a  pair  of  compasses  large 
enough  to  extend  thirty-five  miles  around  the  lower  end  of 
Rock  Island  and  taking  a  sweep  around  it,  you  would  have 
within  the  circle  the  handsomest  and  most  delightful  spot  of 
the  same  size  on  the  whole  globe,  so  far  as  nature  can 
produce  anything  called  beautiful.  The  island  lies  in  latitude 
41  degrees  30  minutes,  is  two  miles  in  length,  and  contains 
above  two  thousand  acres  of  land.  The  extreme  lower  end  is 
occupied  by  Fort  Armstrong  and  the  village  of  Rock  Island. 
After  passing  through  several  feet  of  rich  alluvial  soil  in 
perforating  the  earth,  you  come  to  limestone  rock,  which 
forms  the  foundation  of  this  island.  Pas.sing  around  this 
island,  which  is  long  and  narrow,  you  everywhere  see  the 
rock  on  which  the  fort  and  village  stand.  The  lower  end  of 
the  island  is  high  and  dry  above  the  river,  whereas  the  upper 
end  is  overflowed  in  high  waters,  and  all  the  upper  end  of 
the  island  is  covered  with  a  forest  of  excellent  timber  trees. 
The  main  channel  of  the  river  is  on  the  western  side  of  the 
island,  and  that  part  of  the  Mississippi  is  half  a  mile  in  width, 
whereas  in  a  low  stage  of  the  water,  as  when  we  saw  it,  the 
eastern  branch  of  the  river  is  not  more  than  twenty  rods  wide 
perhaps,  though  so  deep  that  it  is  ferried  constantly  from  the 
island  to  the  mainland.  When  we  were  there,  the  ground 
where  the  fort  stood  was  twenty  feet  or  more  above  the  sur- 
face of  the  river;  ten  or  more  feet  of  it  were  limestone  rock, 
from  the  water  upwards.  The  officers  have  adjoining  the  fort 
a  most  beautiful  garden  regularly  laid  out,  with  graveled 
walks,  in  which  are  cultivated  beets,  carrots,  onions,  potatoes, 
corn,  and  every  vegetable  growing  in  this  climate.  Nothing 
could  exceed  this  garden  in  fruitfulness,  and  every  leaf 
appeared  to  shine  in  luxuriance.  The  gourd  seed  corn  was 
fit  to  roast,  the  beets  had  attained  a  good  size,  and  so  had  the 
potatoes,  beans  and  carrots.  The  village  adjoins  the  fort  on 
the  north,  and  a  few  families  live  here,  Mr.  Davenport,  who 
keeps  a  store  for  the  American  Fur  Company,  being  a  princi- 

S7 


pal  mail  among  them.  The  sutler  has  a  store  here  in  addition 
to  the  company's  store.  Mr.  Davenport  is  an  Englishman, 
and  formerly  lived  at  Cincinnati,  where  I  became  acquainted 
with  him.  His  son-in-law  and  a  few  others  live  on  the 
island.  With  such  persons  I  was  happy  to  meet  in  the  far 
west." 

THE  BURNING  OF  THE  P'ORT. 

For  thirty-nine  years  the  fort  stood  as  first  constructed, 
and  though  evacuated  and  no  longer  the  abode  of  the  soldier 
since  1836,  it  was  used  as  a  Government  warehouse  and  was 
a  picturesque  sight,  being  an  object  of  interest  to  all  travelers 
up  and  down  the  river  as  well  as  to  visitors  to  this   locality. 

On  Sunday  afternoon,  October  7,  1855,  some  vandal  set 
fire  to  the  historic  buildings.  J.  B.  Danforth,  Jr.,  agent  of 
the  quartermasters  department  of  the  army,  in  charge  at  that 
time,  in  a  letter  written  on  the  9th  of  the  month  to  Major  D. 
H.  Vinton,  Quartermaster  U.  S.  A.  at  St.  Louis,  said,  "Sir: 
The  barracks  and  one  block  fort  at  this  place  were  destroyed 
by  fire  yesterday  (Sunday)  afternoon.  I  was  in  the  city  at 
church  at  the  time  the  fire  originated.  I  immediately 
rallied  about  a  hundred  men  with  buckets,  and  endeavored 
to  quell  the  flames,  but  to  no  purpose.  We  had  no  fire 
engine,  and  it  was  impossible  to  stay  the  progress  of  the  con- 
flagration. The  buildings  were  fired  by  some  persons  to  me 
unknown,  and  in  the  following  manner;  About  thirty  kegs 
of  powder  had  been  stored  in  the  magazine  by  the  contractors 
for  the  improvement  of  the  rapids,  by  permission  of  the 
Secretary  of  War.  The  magazine  had  several  times  been 
broken  open  and  powder  stolen.  It  was  then  stored  in  a  safe 
room,  or  what  was  believed  to  be  safe,  in  the  barracks.  It 
had  all  been  taken  away,  except  one  keg  and  one  or  two  parts 
of  kegs.  Some  persons,  while  I  was  at  church,  had  broken 
open  a  window  and  ignited  a  part  of  a  keg  of  powder,  thus 
causing  the  loss  of  the  buildings.  I  have  published  an  adver- 
tisement (at  my  own  expense)  to  endeavor  to  find  out  the 
perpetrators  of  the  outrage,  which  I  hope  will  meet  your 
approval.  I  send  you  a  copy  of  my  paper,  containing  the 
advertisement  and  an  editorial  notice  of  the  fire." 

SS 


5"  ^ 


f<>'t 


•JMC 


When  the  United  States  Government  (under  the  Act  of 
1862)  commenced  the  construction  of  Rock  Island  Arsenal 
in  1863.  all  that  remained  of  Fort  Armstrong  was  removed. 
The  first  building  erected  stands  nearly  on  the  site  of  the  old 
fort,  and  the  window  frames  of  the  basement  of  this  building 
are  made  of  oak  obtained  from  the  old  fort. 

Fort  Armstrong  in  the  early  days  was  quite  a  military  post 
though  no  hostile  shot  was  ever  fired  against  its  walls.  It 
answered  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  built,  to  keep  in  check 
the  Indians  and  offer  protection  to  the  American  settlers.  It 
has  been  the  home  and  visiting  place  of  many  men  who  have 
become  prominent  in  our  nation's  history. 


89 


Part  V 

Political  Divisions — Our  County  Once  Claimed  by 
Spain,  Ruled  by  France,  A  British  Province,  Part 
of  Virginia,  Has  Been  a  Part  of  Six  Counties,  The 
First  American  Flag  in  the  "Upper  Mississippi" 
Valley. 


Part  V 


POLITICAL  DIVISIONS. 

The  fortunes  of  Rock  Island  County  have  been  those  of  the 
vState  of  Illinois.  In  1541  Ferdinand  De  Soto  discovered  the 
Mississippi  River,  crossing  it  somewhere  near  Memphis  ;  and 
upon  this  discovery  rested  vSpain's  claim  and  title  to  the  "  far 
west."  The  country  now  known  as  the  State  of  Illinois  is 
shown  on  the  very  early  Spanish  maps  as  a  part  of  Florida. 
Spain  made  no  attempt,  however,  to  plant  her  settlements  in 
the  "  Illinois." 

In  1673  Louis  Joliet  and  Jacques  Marquette,  the  latter  a 
Jesuit  priest,  were  .sent  from  New  France  (Canada)  by  the 
intendant,  Jean  Talon,  to  discover  the  Mississippi  River  and 
to  explore  the  regions  through  which  it  flowed.  In  June  of 
that  year  their  great  desire  was  gratified  and  they  floated 
down  the  Mississippi  to  a  point  near  where  Helena,  Arkansas, 
now  is.  From  there  they  retraced  their  journey,  until  they 
came  to  where  the  Illinois  River  empties  into  the  Mississippi. 
They  went  up  the  Illinois  and  bj'  the  then  portage  to  Lake 
Michigan.  In  1680  Robert  Cavalier  de  La  Salle  erected  Fort 
Creve  Coeur  at  Peoria,  and  from  this  time  on  until  1763 
Illinois  was  a  French  province. 

In  1763,  at  the  close  of  the  French  and  Indian  Wars, 
Illinois  became  British  Territory,  and  .so  remained  until 
July  4,  1778,  when  Colonel  George  Rogers  Clark  and  his 
\'irginians  captured  the  British  forts  and  .settlements.  In 
October  of  that  year  Illinois  was  by  act  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  Virginia  created  the  "  Count>-  of  Illinois,"  and 
became  a  part  of  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia. 

During  the  Revolutionary  War,  Illinois  and  what  is  now 
the  states  of  Ohio,   Indiana,   Michigan   and   Wisconsin,  was 

93 


claimed  by  each  of  the  states  of  Xew  York,  Massachusetts, 
Connecticut  and  Virginia.  In  1785  these  states  surrendered 
their  claim  to  the  General  Government,  and  then  Congress 
passed  an  act  for  the  government  of  this  country  which  was 
designated  "Western  Territory,"  but  nothing  was  done 
towards  organizing  a  form  of  government.  On  July  13, 
1787,  Congress  passed  the  celebrated  ordinance  known  as  the 
"  Ordinance  of  1787,"  for  the  government  of  this  country, 
then  called  the  "Northwest  Territory."  In  1788  the  first 
officers  were  appointed.  In  179U  the  country  now  Illinois, 
was  established  as  St.  Clair  County,  named  after  General 
Arthur  St.  Clair,  the  first  governor  of  the  Northwest 
Territory. 

In  this  year  Illinois  County  became  part  of  Indiana  Terri- 
torj',  and  in  1809  the  country  west  of  the  Wabash,  north  of 
the  Ohio  and  east  of  the  Mississippi,  was  erected  into  Illinois 
Territory,  which  was  divided  into  two  counties  —  Randolph 
and  St.  Clair  —  the  territory  now  Rock  Island  County  forming 
part  of  St.  Clair  County.  On  September  14,  1812,  our 
county  became  a  part  of  Madison  County,  and  on  January  31, 
1821,  we  were  made  a  part  of  Pike  County.  This  was  the 
first  county  erected  by  the  State  of  Illinois. 

January  28,  1823,  Fulton  County  was  erected  from  Pike 
County,  and  we  became  a  part  of  the  former,  and  so  remained 
until  January  13,  1825,  when  we  became  a  part  of  Peoria 
County.  On  February  17,  1827,  Jo  Daviess  County  was 
erected  from  Peoria  County,  and  Galena  became  our  county 
seat.  We  remained  part  of  Jo  Daviess  County  until  1833, 
when  Rock  Island  County  was  organized,  with  the  boundaries 
as  they  exist  today. 

The  Ordinance  of  1787  provided  for  the  forming  of  one  or 
two  states  out  of  the  territory  now  the  states  of  Wisconsin 
and  Illinois.  The  ordinance  provided  that  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  territory  now  Illinois  should  be  an  east  and 
west  line  drawn  through  the  southerly  bend  or  extreme  of 
Lake  Michigan.  Had  this  provision  been  carried  out  when 
Illinois  was  erected  into  a  state  in  1818,  that  part  of  Rock 
Lsland  County  east  of  Moline  would  now  be  in  Wisconsin. 

When  the  bill  to  admit  Illinois  as  a  state  was  presented  to 
Congress  and  referred  to  the  committee,  our  northern  bound- 

94 


ary  was  as  defined  in  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  which  would 
have  left  out  of  our  state  the  counties  of  lyake,  McHenry, 
Boone,  Winnebago,  Stephenson,  Jo  Daviess,  Carroll,  Ogle, 
DeKalb,  Kane,  Du  Page,  Cook,  I,ee,  Whiteside,  and  also 
a  portion  of  Kendall,  Will,  ha  Salle  and  Rock  Island  counties. 

In  1816  the  United  States  made  a  treaty  with  the  Ottawa, 
Chippewa  and  Pottawattomie  Indians,  and  it  became  neces- 
sary to  establish  the  point  where  a  line  "due  west  from  the 
southern  extremity  of  Lake  Michigan"  would  strike  the 
Mississippi  River.  Such  a  line  was  surveyed  by  John  Sulli- 
\-an  in  1818,  and  a  monument  was  erected  at  its  terminus, 
"on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi  River  near  the  head  of  Rock 
Island."  This  place  is  between  Seventeenth  and  Eighteenth 
streets  in  the  City  of  Moline,  and  is  now  occupied  by  the 
Moline  city  waterworks. 

Alexander  Pope,  the  representative  from  Illinois  in  Con- 
gress, was  fully  alive  to  the  interests  of  his  constituency. 
Mr.  Pope  asked  to  strike  out  of  the  bill  the  description  which 
bounded  Illinois  on  the  north  by  a  line  drawn  directly  west 
from  the  southerly  boundary  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  insert 
the  following:  "Beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash 
River,  thence  up  the  same  and  with  the  line  of  Indiana  to 
the  northwest  corner  of  said  state  ;  thence  east  with  the  line 
of  the  same  state  to  the  middle  of  Lake  Michigan ;  thence 
north  along  the  middle  of  said  lake  to  north  latitude  42 
degrees  30  minutes  ;  thence  west  to  the  middle  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  and  thence  down  along  the  middle  of  that  river 
to  its  confluence  with  the  Ohio  Ri\-er,  and  thence  up  the 
river  along  its  northwest  shore  to  the  beginning."  This 
carried. 

The  northern  boundary  of  Illinois  was  thus  fixed,  and  was 
made  to  include  a  strip  of  land  si.xty-one  miles,  nineteen 
chains  and  thirteen  links  wide,  extending  from  Lake  Michi- 
gan to  the  Mississippi  River,  embracing  a  surface  of  8,500 
square  miles.  The  line  surveyed  by  Sullivan  in  1818  was 
accepted  as  a  true  line  until  1833,  when  Captain  Talcott, 
while  making  the  survey  of  the  Ohio-Michigan  boundary, 
was  instructed  to  ascertain  the  point  on  the  Mississippi  River 
which   is    due  west    from    the   southern    extremity    of    Lake 

95 


Michigan.      He  established  this  point  as  being  "  about  seven 
miles  north  of  the  fort  (Armstrong)  on  Rock  Island." 

From  1829  to  1848  the  question  of  adding  these  fourteen 
northern  and  a  portion  of  the  four  other  Illinois  counties  to 
Wisconsin  was  a  prominent  one  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
state.  Strange  to  say,  for  many  years  most  of  the  people 
living  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state  were  in  favor  of  being 
added  to  Wisconsin  ;  but  when  Wisconsin  was  admitted  as  a 
state  in  1848  its  southern  boundary  line  was  fixed  at  the  here- 
tofore established  northern  boundary  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
and  thus  was  fore\er  settled  what  for  many  years  was  a  sub- 
ject of  much  dispute. 


RAISING  THK  FIRST  FLAG. 

On  August  9,  1805,  Lieutenant  Zebulon  M.  Pike,  an  officer 
in  the  United  States  army,  in  command  of  twenty  soldiers, 
left  St.  Louis  under  instructions  from  the  Government  to  trace 
the  sources  of  the  Mississippi  River,  ascertain  the  condition  of 
the  Indians,  create  a  better  feeling  between  them  and  the 
Americans  and  to  select  certain  sites  upon  which  to  erect  forts. 
The  party  made  the  voyage  in  a  keel  boat  seventy  feet  long, 
and  on  August  ^^  ,  1805,  the  party  arrived  at  the  mouth  of 
Rock  River. 

Black  Hawk  in  his  autobiography  says  : 

' '  Some  time  afterwards  a  boat  came  up  the  river  with  a 
young  American  chief,  at  that  time  Lieutenant,  and  afterwards 
General  Pike,  and  a  small  party  of  soldiers  aboard.  The  boat 
at  length  arrived  at  Rock  River  and  the  young  chief  came  on 
shore  with  his  interpreter.  He  made  us  a  speech  and  ga\-e  us 
some  presents,  in  return  for  which  we  gave  him  meat  and  such 
other  provisions  as  we  could  spare. 

"  We  were  well  pleased  with  the  speech  of  the  young  chief. 
He  gave  us  good  advice  and  said  our  American  father  would 
treat  us  well.  He  presented  us  an  American  flag  which  we 
hoisted.  He  then  requested  us  to  lower  the  British  colors, 
which  were  waving  in  the  air,  and  to  give  him  our  British 
medals,  promising  to  send  us  others  on  his  return  to  St.  Louis. 
This  we  declined  to  do,  as  we  wished  to  have  two  fathers." 

96 


The  event  related  liy  Black  Hawk,  and  occnrring  at  the  old 
Sac  Milage  on  Rock  River,  in  August,  1805,  was  the  first 
raising  and  unfurling  of  the  United  States  flag  in  the  valley  of 
the  upper  Mississippi  River.  All  the  country  west  of  the 
Mississippi  had  until  October,  1803,  belonged  to  Spain,  and 
Lieutenant  Pike  was  the  first  American  representative  to  navi- 
gate the  Mississippi  north  of  St.  Louis. 

OUR  PIONEERS. 

To  know  the  pioneers  of  Rock  Island  County,  we  nmst  read 
their  reminiscences,  and  the  history  of  their  times.  Concern- 
ing them  but  little  can  be  found.  The  pioneer  had  no  news- 
jiapers  to  chronicle  events,  no  time  to  write  a  diary  of  daily 
happenings.  His  life  was  a  continuation  of  struggles  to  secure 
food  for  his  family,  a  constant  anxiety  for  their  safety  and 
his  own. 

Our  pioneers  came  when  the  edge  of  civilization  was  still 
sixty  miles  towards  the  rising  sun.  This  county  was  the 
tlomain  of  the  savage.  These  men  and  women  formed  the 
outposts  of  civilization.  We  cannot  realize  the  dangers  they 
braved,  the  hardships  they  endured. 

War  is  dreadful  in  whatever  land  or  time,  but  Indian  war- 
fare always  possessed  a  terror  unknown  to  combat  among 
civilized  foes.  It  was  the  stealthy  night  attack,  the  sacking 
and  burning  of  the  home,  the  butchery  of  wife  and  children, 
the  ambush  and  the  .scalping  knife  —  these  were  the  incidents 
that  occurred,  and  which  were  ever  dreaded  by  our  pioneers. 
When  our  citizens  volunteered  in  the  Black  Hawk  War,  they 
knew  the  foe  they  nuist  contend  Vv'ith.  Some  met  the  savage 
in  mortal  combat.  A  few  were  sacrifices  to  ci\ilization's 
onward  march.  The  majority  met  with  no  opportunity  to 
test  their  mettle,  but  all  entered  for  the  contest,  all  knew 
what  to  expect,  and  all  are  deserving  of  the  highest  praise  and 
honor,  because  they  did  what  they  believed  was  their  duty. 

As  the  welfare  of  the  individual  is  bound  up  in  the  welfare 
of  his  community  and  state,  we  of  today  can  teach  the  coming 
generation  no  better  lesson  than  to  revere  and  honor  the 
memories  of  those  pioneers  whose  hardships  and  struggles 
made  it  possible  for  us  to  enjoy  today  the  many  comforts  and 

blessings  met  on  every  hand. 

97 


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